2. Improving the Relationship?
• 2013 elections: Hassan Rowhani becomes president
• “path of moderation”
• theocracy: Ayatollah Khamenei has the real power
• Guardian Council
3. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• very conservative; elected in 2005
• supported censorship & persecution of
minorities and women
• anti-Semite & denies the Holocaust
• 9/11 was a conspiracy!
• pro-Palestinian; suggestion for Jewish homeland
• controversial 2009 election = green revolution
nukes?
4. "I'm not a historian. Most certainly, I've read a lot of books about this issue, and that is
why I have questions about it. My questions are very clear ones. We should allow
researchers to examine all sorts of questions because it's quite clear that when they do,
they will reach different conclusions."
“Why should everyone be forced to accept the opinion of just a few on a
historic event?"
"They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they
consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets."
5. Modern U.S. oil consumption
(Energy Info Administration)
• Top oil producer in the world = Saudi Arabia
• U.S. imports 12,000,000 barrels a day (1/2 from
OPEC)
• World produces 85,472,000 barrels a day
• We use 390,000,000 gallons of gas....EACH DAY!
6. Pre-History
• oil becomes more important during WW I
• pre-WW II, nobody in the U.S. cared about Iran!
• Mobil, Exxon, Gulf, and Texaco start to invest in
the 1940s
7. Iran During World War II
• during WW II, Brits occupied most of the M.E.
• Iran invited Nazis in to balance power
• Brits force the Shah to abdicate (9/41)
• His son takes power (w/ British help)
• brief period of rights for everyone
• U.S. prosperity post-WW II deepened our oil
habit
8. Who was Mossadegh?
• member of Majles (Parliament), but resigned
• comes back into the gov after 1944
• opposed Western influence
• angers the Shah & upper class
1951 person of the year
9. Oil and AJAX Part I
• Parliament nationalized Iranian oil in 1952 from the
Anglo-Iranian oil company
• Shah tried to force Mossadegh from power, but it
backfires
• Brits ask for our help
• Other important global events circa 1952
10. Oil and AJAX-Part II
• the West boycotted Iranian oil
• Eisenhower’s Cold War fear...
• CIA time = thug life
• persuaded soldiers to attack Mossadegh
• significance of OP AJAX
11. Return of the Shah
• new deals with U.S. oil companies
• creation of SAVAK (secret police)
• Amnesty Int’l Report
• U.S. favors Iran over Iraq
• Shah rules for close to 25 years
“I just wish there were a few more leaders around the world with
his foresight.” --Richard Milhous Nixon
12. End of the Party
• 1979 Iranian Revolution
• Gulp: Ayatollah Khomeini takes power
• Seizing of the U.S. embassy
• “act of vengeance” CIA analyst
• distractions: Afghanistan and war w/ Iraq
• Operation Eagle Claw
13. Resolution
• Agent Mendez and Canada
• negotiations off and on for over a year
• Shah died
• U.S. sanctions and war w/ Iraq
• Khomeini’s demands
• Reagan defeats Carter in 1980 (489 49)
• end of sanctions and 444 days
14. Iran vs Iraq War (1980-88)
• starts off as a border dispute
• Iran has few friends
• Israel?!?
• U.S. supports Iraq
• U.S. secretly sells weapons to Iran
• Iran Contra Affair (1983-1985)
• What does the war accomplish?
