Quote:
Originally Posted by Daywolf
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Nah you just ignore history, even to a few years prior to this. Iran was allied to Hitler, they were defeated if you recall. The victors of that war rightfully reforged the defeated countries, in an attempt to rebuild and redirect such governments so to not endlessly revisit hostilities.
After all, the Axis powers started the damn war. Maybe if such countries didn't throw their love and support behind Hitler, their outcomes may have been different. But maybes and what if's don't mean squat, they got their asses kicked and handed to them, and there was a price to pay for that.
And look where Germany and Japan are today, in a far better position due to their cooperation. And compare this to those countries that resisted, remaining in a perpetual state of strife.
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1. The great game. Britain and Russia/USSR had been vying for Iranian control for over a century for oil and access to India.
2. Azerbaijan was conquered by the Russian empire. A Shia Muslim "nation" that had previously been integral Iranian territory for a long time.
3. Britain and the oilfields
Put those things together and it becomes the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Like Finland, Iran hated Russia / USSR so much that it aligned with Hitler's Germany. Also like Finland, that had nothing to do with ideology or fascism, it had to do with politics and nationalism.
As for cooperation, Iran was a democracy and aligned with Israel. All it wanted in return was a more equitable contract regarding oil concessions. BTW, the shah was given these more favorable term after the coup in 1953, but it didn't matter. He was seen as a puppet and would've fallen eventually regardless. He would've had to be a flawless leader to overcome the profound hatred that most rural and religious Iranians felt for him.
Ever heard of Persepolis? The shah hosted world leaders at the ancient Achaemenid capital. He put up pavilions and tents outside probably the most important site in the Persian psyche. I can't explain this to you, because you'd have to meet someone like my father, who was much younger at the time, but literally EVERYONE in the country hated this. Not only was the shah a coward who fled the country when the parliament started to take power, but he also formalized his status as a puppet by whoring not only current Iranians, but our 2500 year old capital for a collection of Western VIPs. My dad is barely Islamic today and not fond of the current government, but even he supported the ayatollah in 1979 because of this event.
In closing, daywolf, you provided a very simplistic explanation as to why Iran is the way that it is, but you ignored almost all historical context and the most critical aspect of Persian culture: Pride. Parading on the hallowed ground of Persepolis sealed Pahlavi's fate. But had America and Britain been more responsible, it would've never come to that.
If you're so inclined to educate yourself, I'd recommend "A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind" by Michael Axworthy and "Understanding Iran" by William R. Polk