America is at war with a country it doesn't understand
Seven decades of wishful thinking on Iran
On August 18, 1953, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Queen Soraya stepped off a commercial plane at Rome’s Ciampino airport.
The shah, wearing sunglasses and a light gray suit, “was pale and grave and had a two-day growth of beard on his chin,” The New York Times reported. His wife, “in a brown silk dress and sunglasses, was disheveled and seemed on the verge of tears.” They hadn’t slept in 48 hours, though the Times added archly that they were “both out sightseeing within two hours of reaching their hotel.”
The royal couple’s trauma had a simple explanation: the apparent failure of an American- and British-backed coup to oust Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and place absolute power in the hands of the shah.
Except for one thing.
By the time the shah and his wife sat down …
