Factors Leading to The Expansion of American Influence in Iran

The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
Factors Leading to The Expansion of American Influence in Iran

With the United Kingdom withdrawing from world affairs, the world saw the United States emerging as an alternative to the United Kingdom. But whereas the 1953 seizure and confiscation of “British properties” marks a turning point regarding the end of the British influence in Iran, it is the beginning of a widespread United States influence in this country. Beyond the great global rivalries, Iran’s internal rivalries as well as the regional competitions in the Middle East contributed to the expansion of United States influence from 1953 to 1979.

 

Since the invasion of Iran by Allied troops, fear of the Soviets has prompted Iran to seek United States support against the Soviet occupation of its territory. During World War II, the occupation of Iran by Allied military forces continued until the end of the war. In fact, the cooperation of the Soviet, British and United States military forces inside Iran during this period can be perceived within the context of the coalition of these countries against the common threat of Germany and its allies.

 

Since World War II, the United Kingdom and the United States had security concerns about the Soviets, but their shared fear of a potential German threat has made them united against a common threat. This alliance broke up in the wake of the German defeat and its allies on the battlefield and had a major impact on Soviet cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom on Iran issues.

 

On January 28, 1942, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed a Tripartite Treaty of Alliance with Iran. Under the terms of this agreement, the Allies pledged to respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of Iran, and to withdraw all their military forces from the country within six months after the cessation of all hostilities. This was one of the first battlegrounds of the Cold War over which the Soviet Union and the United States have confronted each other.

 

As noted above, it was a common German threat that brought the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union together since after the defeat of Germany and the elimination of the threat of Axis Powers the Soviet and United States security rivalries were expanded. Also, during the war, the two great powers engaged in a discreet rivalry that was originated in their shared fear of Germany. In the meantime, the Soviet Union tried to expand its sphere of influence in a way that did not provoke the United States.

 

The Expansion of American Influence in Iran

 

In general, before the 1953 coup against Mosaddeq’s nationalist government, the interests of the United States had, in several critical crises, required that it advocates Iran’s views. For instance, during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, though the United States deployed 30,000 troops to Iran, it took positions that forced the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom to guarantee Iran’s political independence and territorial integrity.

 

With regard to the withdrawal of Allied forces from Iran, the United States, which needed more forces in the Middle East, went ahead of the Soviet Union and left Iran so that the Soviets will be forced to withdraw from the country. In addition, during the negotiations of the three major powers over Iran, the United States was trying to force the Soviet Union to leave Iran. Also, in the case of the crisis in Azerbaijan, the United States clearly opposed the Soviet position and supported the Iranian issue being addressed by the Security Council; however, such measures that are in line with the United States’ national interests can be perceived in the context of the intense security rivalry of the two superpowers. Thus, from 1941 onwards the political relations of Iran and the United States were significantly increased.

 

The 1953 coup brought the Shah back to political power in Iran but did not restore the lost British influence in the country. However, it was the United States that was gradually becoming the most influential foreign power in Iran. After the overthrow of Mosaddeq and suppression of opposition parties during the 1953 coup, the Shah pursued a positive balancing policy, which meant a commitment to and unity with the United States.

 

The United States’ Economic Influence in Iran

 

The United States’ economic influence in Iran by the means of oil activities

 

The United States’ economic influence in Iran through financial assistance

 

The United States’ military-security Influence in Iran

 

The formation of SAVAK (literally means National Organization for Security and Intelligence)

 

Military Sales

 

The United States’ military penetration into Iran under the cover of nuclear cooperation

 

The United States’ military penetration into Iran through the multilateral regional cooperation and the Baghdad Pact

 

The United States’ military-security penetration into Iran through Nixon’s Twin Pillars Policy

 

Conclusion

 

Since the sixteenth century, the old Asian empires crumbled one after another in confronting the western governments and became their spheres of influence. Since the beginning of that century, Iran has also faced European colonial influence.

 

From the very beginning, Iran has focused on the policy of establishing political ties with other western powers to counter the former colonial influence.

 

From the balance-of-threat perspective, theoretically fear has always provided an impetus for Iran to confront the colonial powers only through seeking a coalition with other states. At first, Iran struggled to get help from the United Kingdom to confront the Portuguese colonial influence on the southern margin of the country. Then, the British influence expanded on the southern part of the country and hence Iran sought to form a coalition with other European powers to confront the United Kingdom. However, the Iranian-French or Iranian-German fear of the United Kingdom brought Iran closer to the west hence paving the way for the penetration of western powers into this country. Yet, while the United Kingdom was gradually expanding its sphere of influence from the southern margin to the center of Iran, the tsarist factor was playing an effective role in Iran’s equations. From the balance-of-threat perspective, Russia’s expansionism as an adjacent power posed far more imminent dangers to Iran. Therefore, Iran, in confronting Russia which its expansionism had put it at risk, would turn to the United Kingdom and in some cases to other western powers.

 

In fact, as it has been discussed in neo-realism, behaviours in the international system have endless consequences. As the German threat to the great powers grew, the British and Russian reconciliation cast a far heavier shadow on the influence of colonial power on Iran. This eventually led to the occupation of the country, the end of the Qajar monarchy and the rise of the Pahlavi regime. During the Second World War, the October Revolution in 1917 contributed the most to the collapse of the British-Russian coalition against Germany.

 

In his book The War and Revolution,” Stephen Walt elaborates on the impact of the revolutions on the perception of threat and collapse of the alliances as well as the formation of counter-alliances against the revolutionary state. He has provided a clear account of the post-October 1917 rivalries between the Soviet and Western powers, which lasted until the imminent German threat of the late 1930s. Again, Germany posed a threat to Europe, and as Germany was emerging, in Iran some hoped that a coalition will be formed with Germany against the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The Soviet and British proximity to each other resulted in Iran being a scapegoat once again in the quotations of great powers.

 

Despite declaring neutrality in the war, Iran, which had shown interest in getting close to Germany during the regime of Reza Shah, was occupied by Soviet and British military forces. Soon after, the tragedy of the competition of great powers caused another great power to find its place in Iranian history. That was the United States which had grown up after being under the shadow of the British balancing diplomacy and in a type of glorious seclusion for decades. Since the late nineteenth century, this new great power, while expanding its sphere of influence beyond the continent, has been influencing the equations of great powers.

 

In fact, what has unified the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States was the threat posed by Germany and its allies. Hence, repelling the German threat because of the unconditional surrender of Berlin and then Japan should have caused the disintegration of the coalition, and it did. From the perspective of the balance-of-threat, alliances and coalitions are security commitments formed with the aim of increasing the power and the influence of the allies in confronting the common threats.

 

A coalition was formed between the United States and Iranian constitutional monarchy in the face of fears of domestic, regional and international rivals and enemies. This influence, while reinforcing the Shah’s ability to counter internal and external oppositions, would keep the country among the United States’ allies.

 

There were relatively similar ideological contexts that contributed to perceiving the common threat for the two sides. In addition, financial and military supports played an important role in expanding the United States’ influence in Iran. All such measures aimed to maintain the political system of Iran which faced serious internal challenges as well as critical dangers from the Soviet and Arab nationalism and its collapse would have major consequences for American influence in the country.

 

Of course, according to Walt’s view, sometimes the political elites that possess power would hide their group’s interests behind nationalistic and patriotic enticements or other ideological tendencies. In fact, this is not an international coalition or alliance in favour of or supported by a broader society that is ruled by that power. From this theoretical perspective, Iran’s alliance with the United States, especially after the Shah remained in power due to the 1953 coup, was a coalition that aims at the survival of the monarchy in Iran and the expansion of the influence of the United States.

 

Basically, other rival and opposition parties and groups that had been ousted from power opposed the United States-Iran alliance. The main reason for their objection was that such an alliance would strengthen the monarch’s position and is a key factor in the United States gaining influence ‎in Iran. Accordingly, the struggle of opposition groups to the Shah’s regime ‎inside the country was considered a challenge for the United States. The ‎West was mostly concerned with the leftist opposition parties since their ‎power in Iran would mean that Tehran has ‎become enmeshed in a tangle of communism and the expansionism of the ‎Soviet Union. Nonetheless, during the 1960s, the United States was the ‎strongest security ally and the most influential foreign actor in Iran.‎‏ ‏

 

In the following decade, the 1970s, the British withdrawal from the east of the Suez Canal and the United States engagement in the Vietnam War and, on the other hand, the rise in oil prices, all in all, provided the grounds for increasing the United States military exports to Iran. In the 1970s, Nixon emphasized having more confidence in the role of regional allies, a policy that was consistent with the Shah’s ambitions. During these two decades, internal opposition struggles against the Shah continued, and despite the weakening of the Tudeh Party, religious forces have become stronger. Eventually, internal forces became united against the monarchy of the Shah regime, and in 1979, despite continued United States support of the Shah, the Pahlavi regime was collapsed and the Shah fled the country. This was the second time that the Shah had left the country because of the pressures and the success of the internal opposition parties. The first time was 1953 when he had returned to power with the backing of the United States and the United Kingdom in the wake of the coup that led to the fall of the Nationalists, and the second was 1979 when he had left the country giving the power to the revolutionaries.

 

It was clear that, after the Shah left Iran, the coalition of the opposition parties against the Shah would again being disintegrated. Also, as far as the external aspect is concerned, the alliances and coalitions formed during the Shah’s regime will be subjected to change. As a result of the collapse of the Iran-United States alliance, American influence within Iran, which had been expanded through such alliance, was ended. Thus, the hypothesis of this study is approved based on which the United States influence in Iran was expanded from 1953 to 1979 within a bilateral coalition and that this alliance is formed while being rooted in a shared fear of the Soviet expansionists and its regional allies in the Middle East and the groups that oppose the Shah’s regime in Iran.

In fact, Iran’s inclination to engage a third party in the country and the presence of pro-American elites in the process of policy-making in Iran, have paved the way for the United States’ influence within the Iranian political scene. Moreover, the decline of the Iranian people’s initial favourable opinion of the United States and its positions in Iran as well as the creation of an image of a dependent regime in the public mind have been the consequences of the United States presence in this country.

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