By Faramarz Kouhpayeh
Trump appears to still be living in 1953, when governments could be toppled in Iran with money and intimidation
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The operation, code-named Ajax, was swift and brutal. Roosevelt and allied forces bribed politicians, organized street demonstrations, and co-opted military elements, effectively shattering the democratically established government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The successful coup guaranteed Western access to vital oil reserves, replacing an elected leader with the absolute rule of the Shah—a relationship that bred deep-seated mistrust that persists today.
This interventionist doctrine, fuelled by geopolitical strategy and resource acquisition, did not cease with the Shah’s eventual ouster. In the decades that followed, Washington’s hand appeared in the seismic shifts across the region. From the turmoil following the invasion of Afghanistan to the destructive campaigns in Iraq and the funding of terrorist groups in Syria, the recurring pattern was the installation or aggressive backing of pro-U.S. factions, often leading to protracted, or in some cases, never-ending conflicts.
Nowhere is the devastating failure of the Western promise of liberation more evident than in Libya. Prior to 2011, the nation, under Muammar Gaddafi, maintained a high standard of living relative to its neighbors, with free healthcare and education. Yet, Western powers, including the U.S. and NATO allies, framed the intervention under the guise of humanitarian protection, promising the Libyan people “freedom” and “prosperity.” The toppling of Gaddafi, however, did not usher in democracy; it unleashed chaos. Libya fractured into warring militias, witnessing the horrifying proliferation of terrorism, widespread human rights abuses, and an environment where people were openly traded in slave markets—a harrowing reality that hugely contradicted the Western liberation narrative. The promised prosperity evaporated and got replaced by state collapse and endemic violence.
Iran, perpetually central to these strategic calculations, found itself a repeated target. This pattern of external agitation surfaced violently in 2009 and again during the recent U.S.-backed riots that convulsed the country this past month. Even when direct “regime change” was not the immediate goal, the strategy of military attrition was deployed, most notably through the U.S.-backed Iraqi invasion of the 1980s, and more recently, the calculated 12-day war in 2025—a conflict for which the Trump administration later claimed full command.
Now, as President Trump publicly calls for the end of the Islamic Republic, demanding “new leadership,” this latest rhetoric is viewed in Tehran as the culmination of unchecked historical patterns.
What Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria lacked was the necessary deterrent and the unshakeable will to safeguard sovereignty. Iran’s current resolve is forged in a history spanning millennia; these are the same people who stood against the Greeks, the Romans, and the waves of invading Arabs and Mongols. They may endure losses and navigate periods of immense internal difficulty, but the collective memory dictates that preserving the nation’s independence—hard-won over centuries—is the non-negotiable imperative. This historical bedrock is now reinforced by modern military reality: the Islamic Republic possesses advanced military capabilities that serve as an absolute guarantee against the external coercion that paralyzed its neighbors.
Iranian officials have been clear: any attempt to reignite this conflict, or to interpret recent riots as weakness, carries profound, self-inflicted consequences for the United States. They have publicly warned that further aggression will be met with swift and decisive force, including strikes against U.S. bases, the targeting of American personnel, and the strategic closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz. The era where the U.S. could dictate the fate of Iranian governance through intervention appears irrevocably over.
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