Iranians believe Britain Pulls America’s political strings

Submitted by Elizabeth Rathbun on February 10, 2006 - 9:44pm

Iranians distrust the British the most. Although, America is dubbed the World’s Oppressor, there is a strong belief among all Iranians that Britain is to blame for much of what has gone wrong in their country.

Iranians think that the British instigated reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for its nuclear enrichment program with help from the US and Israel. Recent bombings in Iran are attributed to the British and discovery of British spies in Russia have reinforced the conviction that Britain continues to conspire against Iran. (Iran and Russia cooperate in many areas, including intelligence.)

The bad blood between Britain and Iran goes back 200 years. Early in the 20th century, Britain gained control of Iranian oilfields. Iran was colonized and without a central bank except for the Imperial Bank.

The British engineered the 1953 coup with the help of the CIA to topple Iran’s democratically-elected government and replaced it with the authoritarian regime of Shah Pahlavi.

It was believed at the time that the Shah would be more favorable to the interests of multinational oil companies who intended to develop the Iranian oil fields. (Especially British Petroleum)

This event greatly angers the people of Iran because it replaced a popular and secular Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, with a tyrannical dictator who used a secret police force to oppress the people.

Since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, the Islamic Shiites have taken control of Iran and run a religious dictatorship.

Link to Story: In Iranian Eyes, the 'Cross-Eyed British' are to Blame. by Michael Slackman, Feb. 10, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/international/10iran.html?_r=1&pagewan...