By Walt Zlotow
Nationwide anti-government protests are wracking Iran with over 500 killed and 10,000 detained. The U.S. political establishment is ecstatic about the possibility of regime change of the hated Iranian Islamic government which in 1979 toppled the American puppet Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran) the U.S. installed in 1953.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi pounced on this statement by former US Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo that implied both the US and Israel are involved in fomenting the protest:
“The Iranian regime is in trouble. Bringing in mercenaries is its last best hope. Riots in dozens of cities. 47 years of this regime; POTUS 47. Coincidence? Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them.”
Araghchi responded:
“According to the US Government, Iran is ‘delusional’ for assessing that Israel and the US are fueling violent riots in our country. There is only one problem: President Trump’s own former CIA Director has openly and unashamedly highlighted what Mossad and its American enablers are really up to.”
Araghchi is well aware of historical precedence for US regime change in Iran. Seventy-three years ago the US joined Britain’s Operation TP-Ajax, the US-British coup that deposed Iran’s legitimate ruler Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh. The Brits conceived the coup in 1952 and presented it to ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ Harry Truman, who literally told the Brits to go to hell.
A year later newbie Prez Ike greenlighted TP-AJAX to allow Britain to grab back its Iranian oil monopoly nationalized by elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh. For Ike, it was a chance to make his bones as a stanch anti-communist, due to Mosaddegh’s unwillingness to crush Iranian communist influence. Leading this first official CIA coup against a foreign leader who wouldn’t do our bidding was TR’s grandson Kermit Roosevelt Jr., following a family tradition of senseless and bellicose militarism.
Our handpicked successor was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, son of the first Pahlavi monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi. His reluctance and indecision almost wrecked Uncle Sam’s best laid plans, but our CIA Iranian operatives, masquerading as commies, shed enough blood to turn the tide against Mosaddegh. The Shah ruled Iran for another 26 years, with his CIA trained secret police killing thousands who dared speak out against his tyrannical rule.
And guess who has jumped into the current chaos in Iran… Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted Shah whom the US installed after deposing Mosaddegh in 1953. Pahlavi praised the protests as “magnificent” and urged Iranian to plan more targeted actions “to seize and hold city centers.” He’s likely salivating at a chance to reclaim his father’s rule in Iran to once again do America’s bidding. Back then it was to protect British, US oil interests and counter communist influence in Iran. If installed today Pahlavi would complete both Israel and America’s decade’s long goal of weakening, destabilizing Iran to cement Israel’s Middle East hegemony.
Maybe the US has nothing to do with current unrest that may topple the Iranian regime. But based on US regime change history with Iran and numerous other countries, it would not surprise if the US was all in aiding it.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL
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Walt asks if the US is attempting regime change in Iran, and the answer is definitely YES.
They are following the colour revolution playbook that we’ve seen so often before.
But just as US foreign policy has intensified beyond all recognition in the last few weeks, so has the geo-political landscape.
Since the Venezuela fiasco, Russia has gone quiet. China has gone quiet.
I jokingly referred a few days ago to Russia and China providing palliative care to the US at the moment. Making sure that the patient does nothing too extreme.
Their silence now suggests that maybe that has changed.
It’s unwise to extrapolate too far from something as simple as silence, but it’s possible that constant high- level discussions are taking place inside Russia and China, and between Russia and China.
We’ve seen in the last couple of days that the colour revolution in Iran was defused by Iran disabling the Starlink communication system with assistance from China and Russia.
This was a high level slap in the face for the US.
And for the alleged superiority of US technology.
If the decision has been made to confront the madman head-on, we could be in for a torrid time, or we could see this as the point where sane voices in the US re-assert control.
That assumes that sane voices still exist there.
Thank you Walt for providing the necessary historical background to the present Iranian situation. The MSM have been negligent (as usual) when considering anything beyond the presser points emanating from POTUS et al.
Remember, the Iran Contra Affair and the Iranian refusal to release the service persons involved in the failed US attempt to release US embassy staff from prison in Iran immediately before the 1978 US election lost by Carter and won on the back of Iranian influence by Reagan. Nobody is looking at the CIA funding of the Contras operation …..
There appears to be a ”used by” life duration for dictatorial regimes occupying government in countries where the US wants free access to natural resources. Saddam Hussain, long protected and supported by the CIA was removed after about 30 years to apparent allowed ”term of office”. It is also about the duration of the careers of CIA operatives active in Washington political circles. Similarly in Indonesian politics.
So while the US replaces one ”worn out” dictatorial lackie with a fresh aspirant keen to benefit from the largesse of government office, the world looks on to see if TACO Trumpery lives up to his bluster, or simply wonders what if the Epstein files can be fully redacted.
Article articulates an accurate history, thanks Walt.
SD, I like your take on it. The situation is entirely understandable, and inevitable given the years of oppression by the clerics. And also extremely dangerous given Iran’s size, location and underlying sophistication.
Before the Islamic Revolution I met numerous learned and erudite Iranian travelers whilst I was traveling. A few suggested that there was trouble to come because of 1. extraction of wealth by the ‘west’, and 2. that Mohammad Reza Shah was an ego-fixated wastrel madman. It seems they were right. But who then would’ve known what to expect?
Given the Iran–China 25-year Cooperation Program or Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of 2021/2024, and the massive divisive sanctions of Trump and desperate toady Europe, it would seem unsurprising that the US together with its proxy, Israel, following their usual destabilization processes are readying to pounce (as Trump has done in Venezuela).
The US’s 10 bases/operational presences in the Persian Gulf, and more in Iraq and Syria, not forgetting Israel would likely be enough to pump Trump more than he’s already pumped. Yet Iran is no shrinking violet like others the target of the small ops he has undertaken.
It seems it’s not a simple case of quick in/out kidnapping and emplacement of US control. It’s not next door to US, and the population are ‘wised up’ and the state is armed to the teeth. If the clerics flee, who is the pretender? Surely the people would not accept another Pahlavi?
Who knows what is next? Will the Israelis ditch Likud or rein in Netanyahu? Will sanity prevail and Congress rein in POTUS ballistic adventures?
It’s the usual CIA playbook.