Relations between Washington and Tehran have been extremely tense in recent years due to the nuclear threat that the US and Israel believe the Islamic Republic poses. They reached another escalation in recent days before Donald Trump imposed a ceasefire. Recently, it was the Iranian nuclear threat that was determining relations with the US. But this was not always the case.
Before 1951: Iran - the cradle of the Cold War?
Until the end of World War II, foreign powers played ping-pong with Iran - especially Great Britain and the Soviet Union. In 1941, Soviet and British troops invaded Iran and forced the Shah to hand over power to his 22-year-old son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Their main goals were to protect Iran's oil fields from the Germans and to create a "Persian Corridor" for supplies. The dispute over the end of the occupation triggered the so-called Iran Crisis in mid-1945. Stalin withdrew his troops only when US President Harry Truman threatened military action. According to American lawyer and diplomat George Lenczowski, the conflict was the catalyst for "a radical change in American foreign policy" and therefore the beginning of the Cold War.
1951-1953: The Shah, the US and Britain vs. Mossadegh
After the end of the Iran Crisis, the Shah first strengthened democracy in the country. In 1951, parliament nationalized the oil sector. The United States prevented the British from militarily enforcing the rights once acquired by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, later British Petroleum (BP). The then Iranian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, who was initially opposed to nationalization, proved a difficult negotiating partner.
Meanwhile, a power struggle began between Mossadegh and Pahlavi. The Shah eventually won, thanks to the support of the US and British services. Benjamin Friedman of the US think tank Defense Priorities says: "The coup against Mossadegh probably laid the foundation for the anti-American sentiment among a large part of the Iranian population that erupted later, especially in the course of the Islamic Revolution".
1953-1979: "The White Revolution" and the oil crisis
Initially, the intervention of the US and Britain yielded results: in the oil dispute, a decision was eventually reached that Iran would retain most of the revenues, but control of the sector would be in the hands of a consortium dominated by the US and Britain. Subsequently, Iran became the most important US partner in the Middle East, along with Saudi Arabia and Israel. This also included expanding the country's civilian nuclear program.
The US ignored the growing authoritarianism of Pahlavi. Perhaps because with the "White Revolution" From 1963, the Shah began a serious modernization drive - the introduction of women's suffrage, a large-scale agricultural reform, privatization of industry, and a literacy campaign.
1979: The Islamic Revolution
In 1979, the United States, France, Great Britain, and Germany withdrew their support for Pahlavi. Two weeks later, the Shah left the country. Two weeks later, the Shiite cleric Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile in France, was greeted with enthusiasm by millions in Tehran, and declared the so-called Islamic Revolution.
The United States accepted the now terminally ill Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Iran demanded his extradition. In late 1979, Iranian students—most likely with Khomeini's blessing—occupied the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 American citizens hostage for 444 days. In response, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran.
1980–1988: The Iran–Iraq War and the Birth of Hezbollah
When Iraq invaded Iran that year, Washington sided with Baghdad and supported Saddam Hussein's government until the war ended in 1988.
At the same time, Iran began to build up Hezbollah in Lebanon. Among the first actions attributed to the group were two bombings in Beirut in 1983—one against the U.S. embassy and the other against a French military base, which killed over 250 people. In response, the US State Department classified Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposed the first sanctions against the ayatollahs' regime.
1998-2001: Attempts at reconciliation
At the turn of the millennium, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, considered a reformer, adopted a more conciliatory tone towards the US. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright acknowledged US involvement in the 1953 coup against Mossadegh and called US policy towards Iran "disappointingly short-sighted".
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, Tehran and Washington even briefly united against the Islamists of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But the timid rapprochement was short-lived.
2003: Bush against the "Axis of Evil"
In his address to the nation in early 2002, George W. Bush first mentioned the "Axis of Evil". Countries such as Iraq, North Korea and Iran support terrorism, strive to acquire weapons of mass destruction and oppress their populations, the American president said.
When Bush's "Coalition of the Willing" later overthrew Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Iran took advantage of the power vacuum in the neighboring country to gain influence over the Shiite majority there. Meanwhile, the US is trying to establish a Western-oriented government in Baghdad and support the regime's opponents in Iran. In parallel, Iran is building other groups in the region - the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
2005-2025: Hatred of Israel and the Nuclear Program
In 2005, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shared with the world community a recurring element of Iranian rhetoric, declaring that Israel - one of the closest allies of the US - should be "wiped off the map". And because of this, Iran's nuclear program is leading to a rift with the West. There is also growing fear that Muslim clerics could misuse technology inherited from the Shah to build an atomic bomb.
In 2015, Iran reached an agreement with the UN Security Council and Germany regarding its nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency is to monitor compliance with the agreement, and in return, the massive international sanctions against Iran are to be gradually lifted.
However, the brief lull ended when Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and imposed new sanctions.
When the United States killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani during a visit to Baghdad in 2020, Iran in turn announced that it would no longer abide by the agreements.
Following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, tensions between Israel on the one hand and Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis on the other also increased. Israel and Iran have repeatedly exchanged air strikes. The United States has joined in by bombing nuclear sites in Iran.
Author: Jan Walter