Art 1. Vol 1. 2026

The fragile ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran once again underline a reality that has defined West Asian geopolitics for decades: hostility between Washington and Tehran is not merely the product of contemporary disputes over nuclear policy or regional security. Rather, it is rooted in a century of political upheaval, foreign intervention, revolution, war, and competing visions of sovereignty. To understand why durable reconciliation, remain elusive, one must revisit the turbulent history that shaped the modern Iranian state.

Modern Iranian politics emerged in the early 20^th century amid the decline of the Qajar dynasty and growing resentment against British and Russian influence. The Persian Constitutional Revolution represented one of the first major attempts in the region to establish constitutional governance and limit monarchical power. Although the movement faced severe internal and external pressures, it planted the seeds of Iranian nationalism and resistance to foreign domination.

The next decisive phase began with the rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925. Reza Shah sought to modernize and centralize Iran through rapid state-building reforms. Railways, bureaucracy, military expansion, and secular legal reforms transformed the country. Inspired partly by Turkish modernization under Ataturk, Reza Shah attempted to reduce clerical influence and cultivate a strong nationalist identity.

Yet, Iranian modernization came with an authoritarian edge. Political dissent was suppressed, power became highly centralized, and the democratic institutions remained weak. More importantly, Iran’s strategic location and oil reserves continued to attract foreign interest. During the Second World War, Britain and the Soviet Union jointly occupied Iran in 1941 to secure supply routes and oil infrastructure, forcing Reza Shah’s abdication in favour of his son, Muhammad Reza Pehlavi.

This defining rupture in modern Iranian political consciousness came in 1953. Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh had nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, arguing that Iran must regain control over its natural resources. Britain responded with economic pressure and sought American assistance. The result was the 1953 Iranian coup, orchestrated through the Operation Ajax by the CIA and MI6.

The Coup permanently shaped Iranian perceptions of the West, for many Iranians, it demonstrated that the Western powers could undermine democratic nationalism to preserve strategic and economic interests. The restoration of the Shah after Mossadegh’s removal therefore carried the stigma of foreign- backed authoritarianism.

During the following decades, Mohammad Reza Shah pursued ambitious programmes of industrialization and westernization through the “White Revolution”. Land reforms, educational expansion, women’s suffrage, and economic modernization transformed the Iranian society. Tehran increasingly emerged as a close American ally in the region.

However, the Shah’s modernization agenda also generated deep social tensions, Rapid economic change widened inequality, traditional sectors felt alienated, and political repression intensified through the activities of the SAVAK- the regime’s feared intelligence service. Opposition gradually coalesced around religious leadership, particularly Ruhollah Khomeini, who condemned the Shah as both authoritarian and subservient to Western interests.

These tensions culminated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The monarchy collapsed, and Iran was transformed into an Islamic Republic under Khomeini’s leadership. The revolution represented far more than a regime change. It fundamentally altered the ideological orientation of the Iranian state. Iran shifted from being one of Washington’s closest regional allies to one of its fiercest adversaries.

Relations deteriorated rapidly during the Iran hostage crisis, when Iranian students occupied the American embassy in Tehran and held US diplomats hostage for 444 days. The crisis entrenched mutual hostility and remains one of the foundational traumas in US-Iran relations.

Soon afterwards, Iran faced another defining conflict: the Iran-Iraq War. The Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980, hoping to exploit post-revolutionary instability. The war lasted eight years and caused immense devastation. Western powers, along with several Gulf monarchies, largely backed Iraq during the conflict, reinforcing Iranian perceptions international isolation and encirclement.

The war profoundly militarized the Iranian state. Institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) expanded their political and military Influence, while the experience of external hostility strengthened the regime’s emphasis on strategic self-reliance and asymmetric warfare.

The post-Cold War era brought periods of limited reforms but persistent confrontation with the West. Leaders such as Muhammad Khatami attempted cautious political liberalization and dialogue with the international community. Yet tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme increasingly dominated relations with the United States and Europe.

International sanctions intensified during the Presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose confrontational rhetoric deepened Iran’s isolation. Diplomatic progress eventually emerged through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated in 2015 between Iran and the major world powers. The agreement placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

However, the US withdrawal from the JCPOA under Donald Trump in 2018 reignited tensions. Washinton’s “maximum pressure” campaign, combined with regional proxy conflicts and the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, pushed the relations to one of its lowest points in decades.

Simultaneously, Iran itself entered a period of growing domestic unrest. Economic hardships, sanctions, and the political repression fueled frequent protests and violent clashes between the people and the regime. Most notably, after the killing of Mahsa Amini, in 2022, these protests revealed deep internal tensions within the Iranian society, particularly among the younger generations demanding greater social freedoms and political accountability.

Today’s crisis between Iran and the West is therefore inseparable from this long-historical trajectory, Iran’s political identity has been shaped recurring cycles of intervention, resistance, and revolution, and militarization. Its leadership views the external pressures through the memory of the 1953 coup, the Iran-Iraq War, and decades of sanctions. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies continue to perceive Iran through the revolutionary ideology, regional proxy warfare, and nuclear ambitions.

The result is a relationship defined not merely by strategic rivalry, but by accumulated historical mistrust. Any lasting resolution between Iran and the West will require more than temporary ceasefires and tactical agreements. It will demand confronting the historical grievances and geopolitical anxieties that shape one of the most enduring conflicts of the modern era.