Abstract
Despite American presidential rhetoric extolling the virtues of establishing democracy in Iran, there has been strong evidence to prove that this has not been the true intent of the United States’ foreign policy in the region. Rather, since 1953, the United States’ primary goal in Iran has been to maintain a regime and environment that is favorable to the facilitation of American interests regardless of the regime type. While these American interests have ranged from oil settlements, the repulsion of communism, containment of revolutionary sentiment, and others, the basal objective has remained the same throughout the period of 1953 to the present. While the 1979 Iranian Revolution proved to be a disruption to the United States’ ability to maintain their interests in the region, this paper will argue that the event did not signify a significant shift in the United States’ overarching policy of maintaining influence in Iran from the pre- to post-revolutionary period.
Recommended Citation
Stickel, Casey
(2020)
"Influence in the Face of Changing Interests: U.S.--Iranian Relations 1953-2020,"
Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 3, Article 12.
Available at:
https://scholarship.shu.edu/locus/vol3/iss1/12