2. UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS IRAN: FROM EISENHOWER TO NIXTO (PERIOD: 1950-1980)
Author: Alvaro Montenegro P.
The recent origins of the tumultuous relationship can be found in the Dwight Eisenhower administration (1953-61). Fearing Soviet influence over the then Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadeq (1951-53), Einsenhower from Washington and Churchill from London, supported the 1953 coup in that country under the code names "Operation Ajax" and "Operation Boot", respectively.
It was precisely Mossadeq who in 1951 nationalized the "Anglo Persian Oil Company" founded in 1908 by the British. This company was the first to extract oil from Iran. It also marked the first economically important oil discovery in the entire Middle East. After the nationalization, London organized an effective embargo on Iranian oil that was later continued and renewed by the United States.
With Mossadeq out of power, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979) was crowned as the "Shah" (imperial king) of Iran.
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| Mohammad Mossadeq |
Reza Pahlavi adopted a non-conflict foreign policy towards the interests of the United States. Furthermore, as Mraz points out in his article “Dual Containment in the Persian Gulf: Strategic Consideration and Policy Options”: “From now on, the Shah of Iran would be seen like a 'man from America'. US policy in the Persian Gulf was linked to the failures and successes of the Shah (1996: 7).
During this period the United States was not so involved in the Middle East. In the subsequent administrations of John F. Kennedy (1961-63), Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69), and Richard Nixon (1969-64) Washington's attention was on Southeast Asia, in part because of the War from Vietnam (1955-75).
Therefore, it was the role of Iran, like that of Saudi Arabia, to represent and execute Washington's interests in the region. Such was the American foreign policy known as "Twin Pillars". During the Shah's rule, Iran was for the United States not only a regional pillar of stability but also a trading partner. By the mid-1970s Tehran was the largest buyer of US military equipment (Fayazmanesh. 2000, pp: 22).
However, everything changed in 1979. The Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was consolidated. Fifty-two US diplomats and citizens were abducted in Tehran for a period of one and a half years by the "Muslim Students Followers of the Imam's Line"; a group made up of young people from several major universities in the capital.
Iran was lost and the American doctrine of the "Twin Pillars" was no longer applicable.
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