In an effort to justify his war on Iran, President Donald Trump turned to history. He begins with 1979, the year the Islamic Revolution deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and replaced him with the government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran has been a problem ever since. Forty-seven years of repressive theocratic rule hasn’t been good for the Middle East, Iran or Iranians, especially women, LGBTQ+ and dissidents. The regime’s projection of power through proxies has caused considerable disorder and death.
Yes, it’s a bad regime, and the last 47 years have provided Trump with a plausible rationale for striking Iran. Few, outside of Iran at least, mourn the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei.
But if you start thinking about Iranian history at 1979, you can rationalize nearly anything, even an illegal, unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.
In fact, Iranian history dates back 2,500 years to the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great. Modern Iranians take considerable pride in their history. This complicates their reaction to Trump’s attack: Many love their country more than they hate the regime. They won’t take kindly to having their government, their military and their infrastructure destroyed, especially by an impertinent upstart such as the United States, which has been around for a mere 250 years.