Iran: A History Lesson

As I mentioned, I saw 'Persepolis' this past weekend, a beautiful animated film about an Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic revolution. Besides the engaging characters, it's also a unique history lesson of life in Iran during those tragic years.

Now, JustForeignPolicy.org has another Iranian history lesson, this one going back further to the real roots of where current U.S.-Iranian relations began... the coup replacing PM Mossadegh with the Shah in the 1950s.



Toward the end of the video, one person expresses hope for a Nixon-to-China moment regarding our current relationship with Iran. We've had opportunities for this in recent years-- Iranian support for us post-9/11, the 2003 overtures-- and we threw them all away. If the neocons are defeated in this year's election, then we may find our way back to those moments. Obviously many will acknowledge that the hardline rhetoric of President Ahmadinejad (of course, Bush has been the other pea in that pod) and the abuses of the Iranian leadership in general make this easier said than done, but diplomacy has always been about finding solutions with those we dislike, rather than our friends. Unless you are still of the mindset that we can bomb all our problems away, this really is our best hope for a stable relationship with the country that shares borders with both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[PS- Washington Note's Steve Clemons wants Obama and Clinton to clarify Syria policy also.]