Mean Girls, an Embassy Takeover and US-Iran Relations

Mean Girls, an Embassy Takeover and US-Iran Relations

The Gist

This past November 4^th marked the 35^th anniversary of the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students, which caused the severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries. But why did the students (called militants by some) decide to partake in one of the most flagrant breaches of diplomatic protocol and international law? Stephen Kinzer, in a fascinating book All the Shah’s Men, chronicles the CIA-backed coup of Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister (the book has all the makings of a good movie: monarch on the  run, communism v. capitalism, oil executives with politicians in their back pocket…) After the return of the Shah to his throne, he became a staunch ally of the West and the United States in turn humored his insatiable appetite for American weaponry (in fact, Iran was the only country allowed to purchase the advanced F14 Tomcat fighter jet) and turned a blind eye to his human rights abuses. Corruption, a widening gap between rich and poor, and a perceived loss of traditional local culture all led to the overthrow of the Shah. It should be pointed out that, although it’s called the Islamic Revolution, those who rebelled were socialists, liberals, communists, free market advocates AS WELL as religious conservatives (the conservatives just won out in the free for all afterward). The students claimed that they wanted to make sure the United States didn't interfere the way they did in 1953 (interestingly, President Carter openly stated he would be happy to deal with the new government in Tehran). In the thirty five years since, Iranian backed terrorists killed hundreds of Marines in Beirut, American navy officers shot down an Iranian civilian airliner killing hundreds and the two have pretty much been partaking in name calling reminiscent of catty (but popular) middle school girls….and now you know the gist.