Imperialism in Iran
By Zach Carlson
Published: 01/16/2020
In 1953 Mohammad Mosaddegh, the 53rd Prime Minister of Iran, was ousted by a combined British MI6 and U.S. CIA coup after nationalizing the country’s oil reserves and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Today the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company is better known as British Petroleum or BP, the nice green colored gas station on Veterans off of 55 or next to Tony’s Tacos on Main. Mosaddegh did far more than simply nationalize the country’s oil resources, however. Land reform, public works projects, encouraging increased political participation, and limiting the powers of the Shah were among other policies, a fairly progressive and forward-thinking platform that won him massive popular support. That popular support however could not sustain him through combined imperialist plots. Not only was Mosaddegh seen as an obstacle to the U.S’s and Britain’s oil and other economic interests, but their political interests caught up in the rising Cold War as anything left of arch conservative Winston Churchill was deemed a threat and Soviet asset.
Contrary to popular U.S belief, a country’s people often know who the cause of their troubles and political turmoil is. The U.S. was not subtle in their new and close relationship with Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; and, Iranians quickly knew who was behind the coup. Denied for decades by the U.S and Great Britain, while pumping money into the Shah’s government, 1979 came to a shock. Grand Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile and his own popularity and support, combined with the great discontent with the Shah, launched the Iranian Revolution. The Islamic Republic of Iran was formed and the U.S. was quickly condemned as the Great Satan. Why does this all matter?
The January 3rd assassination of General Qassem Soleimani is the latest in the long line of interventions and attacks against Iranian sovereignty. From the 1953 coup, to the repressive Shah, the backing of Saddam Hussein against Iran, the killing of 299 innocent Iranians from shooting down Iranian Air 655, the killer sanctions imposed on the country, condemning the country as part of an “Axis of Evil” and the forced Nuclear Agreement by the U.S. (which Trump quickly broke) the U.S. has been nothing but Satan to Iran. The thing is, Iran isn’t even the U.S. at its worst to say nothing of Vietnam, Laos, Korea, the Philippines, Palestine, Burkina Faso, Libya, almost the entirety of Latin America, and even with our “allies” such as Germany, Italy, or Greece.
It’s the great fight against U.S imperialism and for stability in Western Asia, General Soleimani was seen as a hero to many in Iran. His funeral is reported as the 2nd largest in Iran’s history, only behind Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, and mourners took to the streets across the region even before the funeral. Some were in higher spirits than others. While some mocked western press for often discrediting non-western pro-government demonstrations, others sobbed while pleading for their own humanity. Soleimani was critical in helping to defeat the Taliban and ISIS. So much so, when ISIS praises the U.S’s assassination of Soleimani as an “act of God,” you know you fucked up. Further when Tucker Carlson, who is of no relation and slanders my good name, is correct and criticizes the assassination red flags should pop up for everyone.
While Soleimani aided the U.S against the Taliban and ISIS, he has also been a thorn in U.S empire’s side. Soleimani helped train and support activists in Palestine against the apartheid and settler-colonial state of Israel, supported Hezbollah in Lebanon, President Assad of Syria against ISIS and US backed Rebels, aided Iran backed rebels in Yemen, and trained Iraqi militias, all of which don’t look fondly at the U.S or as a liberating and freedom loving force. As far as leaders against U.S imperialism goes, he was one of the best. That isn’t to say Soleimani, or Iran, is perfect. Far from it. Just a couple of months ago an estimated 300 anti-austerity protesters were killed, 2,000 wounded, and 7,000 detained. Condemned by the Tudeh Party and others in Iran as well, however that isn’t the point here. If cretins like John Bolton and and Mike Pompeo can still draw breath, why couldn’t Soleimani?
The point is where the U.S treads, only death and destruction follow. That is the only thing imperialism brings and the only way to maintain U.S, and world, capitalism. When Iran nationalized their oil, Britain demanded Saudi Arabia doubled output so citizens wouldn’t feel the effects of losing one of their primary oil reserves. When the U.S invaded Iraq, it’s the oil that gets exported back to us, in Syria the U.S is still occupying, and smuggling, their oil. More recently, Iran had discovered a new massive oil field as well in their country. The U.S doesn’t care about peace and democracy; they don’t care about lives lost. If they did, 200,000 Iraqi civilians wouldn’t have died, the U.S wouldn’t be killing more civilians than the Taliban.
Americans have, by in large, never felt the costs of war. The vast majority likely never will. These countries, for almost two decades, have felt the costs of conflict and war brought on by the U.S. We are the Great Satan to them and many others. The average American has far more on common with the average Iranian and Iraqi than they do the presidents or generals that send them off to war, or the billionaires and millionaires that stand to make a profit off of death and destruction. Soleimani’s assassination was an international crime. This isn’t our war to fight, and never should have been in the first place. Nor should Iraqi’s sovereignty be held as blackmail for continued U.S adventurism. It’s time to bring occupying U.S troops home, close all of the overseas bases, and slash the military budget into obscurity, to cripple U.S imperialism’s primary tool.
