Reviewing the United States’ Actions Against the Iranian People (part 1)

The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
Reviewing the United States’ Actions Against the Iranian People (part 1)

1. The greatest crimes carried out by the United States and its allies against the Iranian people over the past sixty year.

A. Before the Islamic Revolution

1. The 1953 coup d’état

2. The killing of university students on December 7, 1953

3. Support for and consolidation of the foundations of the tyrannical regime of the Shah

4. The establishment of the dreaded SAVAK

5. The support for the killing of hundreds of people during the bloody uprising of June 1963

6. The Imposition of the capitulation law and humiliating the great nation of Iran

B. After the Islamic Revolution

7. Transformation of the United States embassy into a Den of Spies

8. Expropriation of the properties of Iran

9. Direct military attacks and the Tabas incident

10. The execution of the Nojeh coup d’état to overthrow the Islamic Republic

11. Supporting Saddam to launch an attack on Iran

12. Providing Saddam with weapons and information during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq War

13. The United States’ attacks on Iranian ships and oil platforms

14. Shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655

15. Support for the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran

16. Imposing sanctions against Iran

17.  Cultural invasion and soft war against the Iranian nation

18. Producing the anti-Iranian and anti-Islamic films

19. Issuing a threat against the Iranian nation to carry out military strikes

20. Supporting the terrorist groups, especially on the borders of Iran

21. The United States’ support for sedition and turmoil in 1999, 2003 and 2009

22. Assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists

2. Military Attacks against Iran

A) Attack on platforms in the Rashadat oil field.

During the war and before the United States attacked these platforms, the Iraqi government had struck them two times in June and August 1987. But given the vital role that these platforms were playing in exporting oil, they were quickly repaired and rebuilt so that they were ready to be used before the United States’ invasion. The United States’ attack on these platforms took place three days after the unidentified missile attack on the MV Sea Isle City, a reflagged Kuwaiti oil tanker, on October 17, 1987. The United States claimed that the missile was a silkworm missile that was launched from the al-Faw peninsula accusing Iran of carrying out the attack. On the other hand, Iran while denying the charge, stated that it was impossible to carry out such an attack given its military facilities. Nonetheless, the United States did not accept this argument and three days later, the oil platforms of “Rashadat” was attacked by four destroyers with air cover provided by the cruisers USS Long Beach and USS William H. Standley, two F-14 Tomcat fighters and an E-2 Hawkeye from USS Ranger.

Consequently, the attacks caused severe damage to oil platforms and disrupted the process of Iranian oil export.

B) Attacks on Nasr and Salman oil platforms.

Salman was one of the most important oil platforms in the Persian Gulf which was producing about 220,000 barrels of oil per day. On October 12, 1977, the Iraqi Ba’ath army had launched an airstrike on this oil platform but immediately afterward it was reconstructed and became active.

Nevertheless, the Nasr oil platform that had the capacity of producing 100,000 barrels of oil per day, was never targeted by the enemy during the war and continued to operate until the United States attacks on April 14, 1988. At the time, the United States navy attacks on Nasr and Salman oilfields occurred in retaliation for the United States frigate Samuel Roberts that struck the mines laid sixty miles of East of Bahrain.

Following that incident, American officials accused Iran of laying mines in that area, but Iranian authorities denied the charge and stated that the area where the United States warship struck mines had been under the constant control of American, Bahraini, Qatar and Saudi Arabian forces. Therefore, there was no possibility of Iranian troops laying mines there. The United States did not accept this argument, and after four days, in April 1988, launched an airstrike against the Nasr and Salman facilities and destroyed them completely. In addition to destroying the platforms, two Iranian frigates Sahand and Jushan were drowned, and damage was caused to an F14 Iranian aircraft and ship. Also, a large number of naval personnel and civilians were martyred or injured. like the previous attack, the Americans justified their military attacks on Nasr and Salman platforms as being a form of legitimate defence while referring to the 51st article of the Charter of the United Nations. [4]

C) Direct military attacks on Iranian ships [5]

Given Iran’s relative military superiority to Iraq and supporting the Iraqi army, the United States government even considered the direct military intervention. The United States support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, in addition to equipping Iraqis with weapons, led to military presence in the Persian Gulf and then military conflict. On September 21, 1987, when the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, as the President of the time was going to attend the forty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly in order to make a speech in New York, on the eve of his speech, the Americans attacked the 800 ton Iranian landing craft called “Iran Ajr” by two military helicopters dispatched from the United States Navy guided-missile frigate USS Jarrett, to overshadow the Iranian political efforts in the international arena. After the attack, from among a total of 31 crewmen, 3 were martyred, 2 missing and 26 others, some of whom were injured, were captured by American forces and the ship was drowned.

Two weeks later (October 8, 1987), the American helicopters attacked other patrol boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Persian Gulf. Likewise, the United States Navy’s brutal attack on frigate Sahand and the United States’ military strike on Iran’s oil platforms were among other direct military activities of the United States during the imposed Iran-Iraq War.

D) The shooting down of the Iranian passenger jet

One of the brutal acts of the United States in the late days of the Iran-Iraq War that shows the depths of American hostility towards the Islamic Republic is the United States Navy strike on the passenger flight of the Islamic Republic of Iran on July 3, 1988. The aircraft, an Airbus A300, which belonged to the Iranian Airlines (Iran Air) and was a scheduled passenger flight from Bandar Abbas to Dubai, was shot down while flying over Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and all its 290 people on board including 118 women and children were martyred.

The missiles were fired from the USS Vincennes, a guided-missile cruiser of the United States Army in the Persian Gulf, which already violated the Iranian waters. The White House leaders did not apologize to the Iranian nation for this crime, and even the air-warfare coordinator on duty received the Navy Commendation Medal. [6]

E) Military attack on Tabas.

Following the seizure of the American embassy – the Den of Spies – in Tehran by students and subsequently capturing a number of staff members of the embassy, ​​which has severely damaged the United States prestige and showed the weakness of this superpower, the Americans took any political means to resolve the hostage crisis but they failed. The precondition set by Imam Khomeyni for the negotiation was delivering the Imperial Shah to Iran, but instead of meeting the demands of the great nation of Iran, the Americans stepped into the military phase.

After carrying out much research, relying on anti-government agents who were affiliated with the Pahlavi regime, and ensuring that military operation would not fail, on April 25, 1980, a number of trained and special American forces were transferred by five helicopters and 5 C-130 aircraft to one of the remote and abandoned airports in Tabas Desert to start the operation. but eventually and with the help of the divine powers, a sand storm began to flow causing an aircraft and a helicopter to crash and catch fire which was followed by other explosions and killing of the American soldiers. Therefore, the mission was failed and aborted.

3. American Coups in Iran

 A) The 1953 coup d’état in Iran and overthrowing Mosaddeq governmen.

In May 1951, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq became prime minister with the support and help of Ayatollah Kashani. Afterwards, he followed the policy of “nationalizing the oil industry” and eventually succeeded on March 29, 1951. In the course of the nationalization of the oil industry, the British companies no longer had control over Iran’s oil resources. According to the Americans’ confessions, recorded in the documents published by the CIA and the State Department in 2000, the representatives of the British Security Agency suggested to the CIA the issue of overthrowing Mosaddeq administration and replacing a dependent government. in March 1952, this plan was accepted by the American government. After numerous studies and reviews by British and American thinkers, the coup d’état was finalized and signed under the name TPAJAX Project (August 21st), by CIA Director, United States’ Secretary of State and President of the United States (Eisenhower) and received substantial funds. Eventually, it was executed on August 28, 1953. As a result, Dr. Mosaddeq dismissed and his democratic government was collapsed. Shah, who had already fled to Italy fearing the people’s protests and processions, returned to the country and hence a period of total domination of the Americans was initiated. Since then, the Americans had been refusing to acknowledge their role in the coup until March 17, 2000. At that time, Madeleine Albright, the United States’ Secretary of State, in one of her official speeches talked about the United States’ direct and central role in planning and execution of the coup for the first time without apologizing to the Iranian people for committing such a crime. Subsequently, in June 2000, the United States government released a bulk of previously classified government documents that show it was in charge of both planning and execution of the coup. 

B) The Nojeh coup d’état 

Among the United States’ subversive measures after the failure of the military attack on Tabas, is the Nojeh coup that was planned on July 9, 1980. The American government had provided financial support for the planning and execution of the coup. The headquarter of the Nojeh coup was centred in Paris and led by Shahpour Bakhtiar, the last prime minister of the Pahlavi regime. This headquarter had numerous political, military and financial branches. The political wing was working under the supervision of Reza Marzban and Abolqasem Khadem with the aim of attracting one of the scholars of the time and some of his supporters. The military wing which was running under the supervision of Ehsan Baniameri sought to infiltrate the army, air force, and recruit military forces and the intelligence forces of SAVAK. The financial-logistic wing was running by Manuchehr Qorbanifar with the aim of providing financial support for the coup, supplying and sending weapons and equipment through Iraq and smugglers to coup agents inside Iran.

In order to implement the plan successfully, the Americans spent tens of millions of dollars. Experts believe that considering the military equipment that was to be utilized from the sources inside and outside of the country, this coup can be considered as an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the coups took place throughout the world so that the coup d’état of 1953, compared to this one, is to be seen as just a game! Therefore, the CIA was very sure of the success of the coup. They even prepared the message that was going to be conveyed after the coup on July 12, 1980. The leaders of the coup d’état even had provided a place for the residence of Ayatollah Kazem Shariatmadari in Tehran so that he would be settled there and support the coup; but with the help of divine powers and before the coup enters its executive phase, it was exposed through a very precise and successful operation and all of its agents inside the country were arrested.

4. Political-Security Plots in Iran

A) Imposition of the Capitulation Treaty on Iran and humiliating Iranian people

One of the humiliating actions of the United States Government against the Iranian people was the pressure they put on Shah’s regime to legislate a bill in the National Consultative Assembly upon which immunity would be granted to American citizens. According to this bill that was called “Capitulation,” the Iranian judiciary system could not persecute any of the American advisers, military personnel, employees as well as their families, which at the time were more than 40,000 people.

This bill was legislated in Iran at a time when even the undeveloped African and semi-colonial countries did not endorse such law. [14] Under American pressure, the bill first was passed in the Asadollah Alam administration and then in the National Consultative Assembly on October 5, 1963, and was approved by the Senate as well.

On October 13, 1964, and during the administration of Prime Minister Hasan Ali Mansur, this bill was taken to the National Consultative Assembly and passed by the members. There were many debates about the capitulation so much that in 1963-1964 the United States and Iranian governments insisted that this law should not be made public and until its disclosure by Imam Khomeyni on October 26, 1964, people have not been informed about such a law.

B) The plot to disintegrate Iran

Another United States scenario to overthrow the Islamic Republic at the onset of the Islamic Revolution was the project of the domestic collapse of the country which was pursued in two ways; first, “creation of turmoil in the ethnic areas of the country,” by the agents who seek disintegration of the country. Second, “creating riots in universities” by Westernized agents who intend to overthrow the government by the means of riots in universities and then maneuvering around a killing project and starting mourning ceremonies just to pretend how severe the damage is.

C) Supporting the leaders of the Imperial Regime.

The seizure of the American Embassy (the Den of Spies)

Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, many of the leaders of the Pahlavi regime fled to other countries, especially the United States. The Americans also refrained from deporting them so that they will stand trial for crimes that they were committed. One of them was Shah whom the Carter government had granted asylum. In response to this hostile act, the Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line took control of the American embassy and arrested the spies who were residing there. The American government was expecting that the Bazargan administration would release the detainees, but Imam Khomeyni’s description of this phenomenon as the second revolution, caused the Americans to be confused and upset, lose control of the situation, and fall into a 444-day trance.

D) Establishing intentional communications with individuals and groups inside Iran.

One of the most important missions of the United States embassy in Tehran was to communicate with the revolutionary elements and driving them towards the goals and ideals of the United States so that the American government would be able to deviate the revolution from its Islamic ideals. Through supporting the opposition groups and nationalists, they sought to maintain Iran’s political climate in their favour. The relationship between the United States’ embassy officials, members of the Freedom Movement and the National Front has been in line with this purpose. likewise, the Americans relations with Banisadr as a consultant and hiring him from the time he was living in Paris, with a monthly wage of $ 1,000 may be included in this category. In addition to Banisadr, we see close ties between other individuals such as Sadeq Qotbzadeh (the foreign minister at the time) and Mahdi Bazargan (a member of the National Front of Iran) with Americans. Also, after an inquiry launched by the Senate on the CIA activities, it emerged that in 1979 the CIA had provided a $500,000 financial support for Ahmad Madani to win the presidential election.

E) Eclecticism and assassination of intellectuals.

One of the most important actions of the Americans and their executive arms in Iran to stop the movement of the Islamic Revolution was to prevent the development of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution and its intellectual system; in this regard, they followed two paths: first, strengthening the electrical and liberal discourses, second: killing the intellectuals and cultural elites, such as the assassination of Ayatollahs Motahhari, Muftah and Beheshti.

 

After located farther aft More (Definitions, Synonyms, Translation)

 

Archive of The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution

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