The true history of U.S.-Iran relations
The Iranian regime has never found itself more vulnerable. And, with this vulnerability, it has never leaned more heavily on its own narrative of history. This narrative, of course, has a central antagonist, a character conjured up as the “Great Satan.” As this Quranic moniker implies, the Islamic Republic ascribes supernatural qualities to its adversary: from far away in Washington, D.C., the Great Satan has the power to send hordes of stooges to shout in the streets and the remarkable ability to manufacture every ill in Iranian society.
The power of this narrative reaches beyond such mythological claims into the stuff of history. It was the CIA, the story goes, that deposed a democratically elected Iranian leader back in 1953 and then spent twenty-six years propping up a despotic shah while he mercilessly abused his people.
