Decades before the U.S.-Israel war in Iran began, Iran was considered one of America’s most important allies in the Middle East.
How Iranian leaders spread anti-American sentiment in society
For decades, Iranian children have been forced to chant “Death to America.” It left some people deeply conflicted.
As the US-Israel war in Iran escalates, it is difficult to imagine that Iran was once a key ally of the US.
“Iran has been the United States’ best ally in the Middle East. Iran has really been the linchpin of American policy in the region,” said Ali Baez, director of the International Crisis Group’s Iran project, but noted that the two countries have a “very complicated history.”
Friendship between the United States and Iran dates back to 1953. At the time, the United States and Britain supported a coup against then Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh due to Mossadegh’s attempts to nationalize Iran’s oil industry and concerns about drawing Soviet influence. The coup, backed by the United States, would return Iran’s last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to power.
The United States and Iran remained largely friendly for the next two decades. The United States sold arms and provided military assistance to Iran in its resistance to the Soviet Union, and the two countries embarked on cultural exchanges to improve Iranian higher education.
“There was a lot of interaction with Iranian students who studied in the United States and returned to help their country develop,” Baez said.
iran nuclear deal
A major disagreement between the United States and Iran is over Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear energy, with the United States concerned that Iran could develop nuclear weapons. In 2015, after lengthy negotiations, President Barack Obama declared an agreement between the United States and Iran to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
But in 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from negotiations with Iran.
“It’s clear that the rotten and rotten structure of this deal will not stop Iran from nuclear bombing,” Trump said.
President Joe Biden sought to restore the Iran nuclear deal, and negotiations resumed in 2021, but the two countries were unable to reach an agreement.
Informal talks continued after President Trump returned to power, but they broke down again and the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
President Trump’s rationale for launching an attack on Iran on February 28, 2026 was concern about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. However, the United States played an important role in supporting Iran’s nuclear program.
“One of the great ironies of this situation is that the Iranian nuclear program was a gift to Iran from the United States as part of President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program,” Baez said.
The program aimed to improve relations between nations and quell interest in developing nuclear weapons by providing the necessary elements for establishing a civilian nuclear program for energy production.
strained relationship
However, it was the Iranian revolution of 1979 that seriously strained relations between the two countries. Disdain for the Shah’s autocratic rule reached a climax among the Iranian people, and he was eventually removed from power.
“The Shah has completely lost control and the US-trained Iranian military has decided to declare neutrality in this conflict between state and society,” Baez said. “The revolutionaries were thus able to overthrow Iran’s 2,500-year-old monarchy and establish an Islamic republic.”
Iran’s new supreme leader, who took office in 1979, regarded the United States as an enemy and spread anti-American sentiment in society.
“The Islamic Republic really tried to brainwash the entire population, especially the new generation, against the United States,” Baez said. “I grew up in Iran. Every day before I went to class, I had to chant ‘Death to America’ before I could sit behind the bench. Yet, my brother was studying in the United States, and I couldn’t say ‘Death to America,’ because I was afraid it would hurt him in some way.”
In the latest episode of USA TODAY’s signature podcast “The Excerpt,” Baez spoke about the complicated history between the United States and Iran, including repeated efforts to quell Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
