Why the US and Iran became enemies

The war involving the United States, Israel and Iran that erupted on February 28 did not begin overnight. Analysts say the current fighting is the result of decades of mistrust, political trauma and competing national narratives built around several defining moments in modern history. Reports Dw.com.

One major turning point came in 1953. After Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the country’s oil industry in 1951, a coup backed by the CIA and Britain’s MI6 helped remove him and restore Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. For many Iranians, that episode became proof that foreign powers had crushed democracy to protect their own interests.

A second decisive moment was the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Growing anger at the shah’s rule, seen by many as repressive and supported by Washington, led to the fall of the monarchy and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The new Islamic Republic adopted a strongly anti-American ideology that still shapes Iran’s leadership and state institutions, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

For Americans, the deepest memory is the hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981, when militants seized the US embassy in Tehran and held 66 Americans. The attackers said they wanted to stop another foreign-backed intervention. Together with the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, these events hardened attitudes on both sides and laid the groundwork for today’s war.