Today’s dangerous escalation with Iran did not begin this year, or last year. Its roots trace directly to 1953, when MI6 and the CIA orchestrated a coup that overthrew Iran’s elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and reinstalled the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The Shah’s rule, enforced by the feared SAVAK, brutalized political dissent and crushed democratic aspirations. This foreign-backed repression laid the groundwork for the Iranian Revolution and the theocratic state that followed. To discuss today’s crisis without acknowledging this history is to ignore the fuse that was lit more than seven decades ago.
Now, as tensions again center on the Strait of Hormuz, the world faces economic shockwaves and the risk of wider war. But military escalation will not solve a problem born of historical grievance and mistrust. More bombing, more troops, and more threats only deepen the quagmire.
A serious path to de-escalation must begin with truth. The governments of the United Kingdom and the United States should formally acknowledge their role in the 1953 coup and the consequences that followed. Israel should halt military actions that risk widening the conflict. Symbolic and material steps toward accountability — including apology and restitution — would do more to lower tensions than any show of force.
History does not disappear because it is inconvenient. Until it is confronted honestly, it will continue to shape the present in dangerous ways.
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