Deeply unpopular among much of the population, the shah relies on U.S. support to remain in power until his overthrow in 1979.
I turned fourteen in 1979. Navarre likely turned 31 and perhaps was finally released from prison. We didn't really speak much of it, so my understanding of those events and how that impacts his life is limited.
My understanding is he spent three years in prison for his political activism and got married at age 28. I'm guessing he was newly married when he got locked up for reasons I was never told.
Of his release, what I know is that he learned French in prison and was about to start studying German "when they let him out." I infer that he was expecting to remain in prison and his release was a surprise, so I'm guessing the 1979 revolution is likely the explanation for his seemingly sudden and unexpected release from prison.
I saw two headlines today and didn't click into the articles. One said Israel is attacking Iran and the other indicates the US is helping Israel in this action. I went to read up on the history, trying to parse US-Iranian relations and was again reminded of the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where someone says "It is old, effendi."
In other words it's kind of an excuse and it kind of doesn't matter what happened TODAY in the last hour. There's decades of feuding behind it and both sides have enormous baggage and either side is happy to pick a fight and claim the other side started it.
Social Psychology studies show that in feuds, both sides feel the other side started it. There's typically no getting to the bottom of things by trying to figure out where it started or who did what. It's a bottomless rabbit hole and anytime you imagine you found the start, someone will cite something else even older that led up to whatever you think is the start.
In the movie version of the story, which isn't necessarily historically accurate, Lawrence immediately drops his efforts to figure out what happened and promptly tries to figure out how to keep this alliance from falling apart at the last minute.
He asks one tribal leader "If he dies, will your tribe be satisfied?" And they say "Yes. " He turns to the other and asks "If no one in that tribe harms him, will your tribe be satisfied?" And they say "Yes."
He announces "I will kill him." And turns to shoot the guy only to finally learn that it's the guy whose life he saved when he went back for him, a guy he was told he should leave for dead "because it is written."
He shoots him anyway but then throws the gun away immediately afterwards.
I hate politics and haven't studied this and mostly don't read the news. My impression as someone who was once close to someone who lived through these events is that US involvement with sanctions against Iran is experienced by Iranians like an abusive father being deferred to in court "because he is the father."
I don't know what is needed to heal things in a part of the world with a very old history, much older than the US has, and focus on creating a better situation in the future.
But my impression is that no one actually in a position of power, in a position to try to do so, is even wondering about how that might happen.
It upsets me to see that Israel can attack Iran seemingly unprovoked and other nations back Israel instead of telling Israel to stop and that they are in the wrong.
In this case, Israel is being backed by someone Iran is highly likely to see as a bully who regularly picks on them rather than as a powerful country using it's might to enforce some kind of justice between two smaller, weaker nations.
Justice needs to be justice for all, not blatant abuse of power to further the agenda of the biggest bully on the block, or there is no hope of peace.
This situation is a festering wound and I'm seeing zero evidence anyone is actually trying to heal it.
I'm someone who knew an uncommon man who spent time in prison and was questioned under torture for standing by his principles. It makes it impossible for me to see this ongoing debacle as genuinely a legitimate claim that Iran is somehow solely at fault for it and the people attacking Iran are the good guys and Iran just needs to behave.