CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

If You Were Iran, Would You Trust the U.S. or Israel?

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

As the recently announced truce between the U.S.-Israel and Iran hobbles along, one must wonder if the two-week cease-fire will hold, let alone lead to a genuine, long-term peace agreement.

Among the numerous initial stumbling blocks is Iran’s claim that the ceasefire agreement covers Lebanon, while the U.S. and Israel insist it does not cover Lebanon. According to a report from The Hill,“Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped negotiate the ceasefire, on Wednesday called for ‘an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and other regions, effective immediately.’”

Sadly, the U.S-Israel war against Iran is but the latest round in a nearly three-quarters-of-a-century struggle.  Jeffrey Fields outlines this long, tumultuous history in an invaluable study from 2020, “U.S. and Iran have a long, troubled history.” Sara Al-Sayed, in “The US-Israeli History Behind Their War Against Iran,” brings the history up to 2026.  The following summarizes much of these reports.

1951-’53: In ’51, Iran’s prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, ordered the government takeover the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; Pre. Dwight Eisenhower backed “Operation Ajax,” a joint CIA-British MI6 military campaign that overturned Mossadegh and returned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to absolute power.

1968:  Iran signs Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

1977-’79: Slowly building popular........

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