Post by Freedom on Aug 28, 2009 15:54:57 GMT -5
Here is a cases of antagonism between to countries, deep rooted in the past:
"There is a deep-rooted belief in Iran that Britain is always up to something, is never passive and always devious," said Rosemary Hollis, Middle East analyst at City University in London.
Humiliation
As for the history, it depends on how far back you want to go.
You could go back to 1813 and the Treaty of Gulistan, under which Persia was forced to concede territory to Russia. The treaty was put together by British diplomat Sir Gore Ouseley and is regarded as a humiliation in Iran.
The myth - or reality - of the devious British was established.
Britain was also instrumental in setting Iran's borders with India in the 1860s.
Then in the 1920s, British forces in Iran under General Edmund Ironside (later British land forces commander in World War II after Dunkirk) helped put Reza Shah on the Peacock throne. His son was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah overthrown in the Islamic revolution of 1979, so there is a direct link back to British actions decades ago.
'Great Satan'
In more modern times, the event that really led to the mistrust of Britain - and the US - was the coup against the elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq in 1953.
It is ironic that in the current crisis, the British government tried to keep a low profile, not wanting its 'historical baggage' ... to be used as an excuse by Iran to blame it for interference
Mossadeq had wanted to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in which the British had a majority share. The British and Americans organised a coup, put Mossadeq under house arrest and placed Pahlavi firmly in control as Shah.
After the Shah himself was removed, the Islamic revolutionaries turned their attention more to the "Great Satan", the US, than the UK. Hostages were taken at the US embassy and President Carter launched a disastrous operation to try to free them. There followed many barren years.
There have been brief rapprochements now and then. An alliance of convenience between the Reagan administration and Iran saw the US get arms to Iran in exchange for the freeing of western hostages in Lebanon.
During the Iran-Iraq war, which the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein started, western support for Iraq was deeply resented in Iran.
"There is a deep-rooted belief in Iran that Britain is always up to something, is never passive and always devious," said Rosemary Hollis, Middle East analyst at City University in London.
Humiliation
As for the history, it depends on how far back you want to go.
You could go back to 1813 and the Treaty of Gulistan, under which Persia was forced to concede territory to Russia. The treaty was put together by British diplomat Sir Gore Ouseley and is regarded as a humiliation in Iran.
The myth - or reality - of the devious British was established.
Britain was also instrumental in setting Iran's borders with India in the 1860s.
Then in the 1920s, British forces in Iran under General Edmund Ironside (later British land forces commander in World War II after Dunkirk) helped put Reza Shah on the Peacock throne. His son was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah overthrown in the Islamic revolution of 1979, so there is a direct link back to British actions decades ago.
'Great Satan'
In more modern times, the event that really led to the mistrust of Britain - and the US - was the coup against the elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq in 1953.
It is ironic that in the current crisis, the British government tried to keep a low profile, not wanting its 'historical baggage' ... to be used as an excuse by Iran to blame it for interference
Mossadeq had wanted to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in which the British had a majority share. The British and Americans organised a coup, put Mossadeq under house arrest and placed Pahlavi firmly in control as Shah.
After the Shah himself was removed, the Islamic revolutionaries turned their attention more to the "Great Satan", the US, than the UK. Hostages were taken at the US embassy and President Carter launched a disastrous operation to try to free them. There followed many barren years.
There have been brief rapprochements now and then. An alliance of convenience between the Reagan administration and Iran saw the US get arms to Iran in exchange for the freeing of western hostages in Lebanon.
During the Iran-Iraq war, which the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein started, western support for Iraq was deeply resented in Iran.