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- 1953: U.S.-backed coup installs Western-friendly dictatorship
- 1978: Iranians revolt, installing U.S.-hostile government
- Issues: Iranian sponsorship of terrorism, human rights violations, pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, US economic sanctions against Iran
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Tensions with Iran have been an issue for the United States as well as other nations of the international community since the overthrow of the United States-backed Mohammad Reza Shah during the Iranian Revolution of 1978.
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Background
In 1953, responding to fears that Iran would become a communist nation, the United States and United Kingdom arrange to replace Prime Minister Muhammad Mussadeq with the more Western-friendly Mohammad Reza Shah. Where Iran had previously been a parliamentary democracy, it rapidly became a dictatorship. In 1978, Iranians revolted. By 1979, they had made the Ayatollah Khomeini their new leader. When the United States agreed to let the cancer-sickened Shah into the country, Iranian students took US diplomats hostage for 444 days, bringing US-Iran relations at a new nadir. More recently, the United States has accused Iran of pursuing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.Iran Facts
- Capital: Tehran
- Government: Islamic Republic, declared in 1979
- Population: 71,208,000 (2007)
- Area: 636,372 square miles
- Currency: Iranian Rial (IRR)
- Official Language: Persian
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Tensions with Iran Questions
Will Russia impose sanctions against Iran? 1 AnswerWell Russia alone cannot impose sanctions against Iran. It can withdraw the current trades in between both countries. To impose sanctions all the Vito countrie... read more
What would you do to end the tension between the USA and Iran? 1 AnswerI took a PolySci course in college and we did a simulation where we all took a country and dealt with some global issues as a member of that country. One of th... read more
What countries receive oil passing through the Straits of Hormuz? 1 AnswerThose countries would be members of the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Musandam. The Israel and Iran tensions would not hurt those countries since Israel... read more
Did Israel promise not to strike Iran? 1 AnswerIsrael has stated that it would never attack Iran with the goal of the Iranian people themselves being the target, nor of their government being the specific ta... read more -
Major Issues and Key Players
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- War on Terror
- CSMonitor: Study calls Iran 'biggest beneficiary' of U.S. War on Terror (2006)
- Shiite Muslims
- WashingtonPost.com: Iran Said to Support Shiite Militias in Iraq (2006)




