The Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, had been dependent on the west throughout his rule – a source of anger among Iranian public, who had launched a struggle under leadership of Imam Khomeini against Shah and his western backers.
The dependence on foreign powers had led to collapse of Shah regime.
Iranians couldn’t forgive Britain’s meddling in their country during its 19th-century power struggles with Russia in central Asia – or London and Washington’s role in the 1953 coup that ousted the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq.
It was the CIA’s first overthrow of a foreign government – salad days for 20th-century international politics.
The same allied powers – Britain and the USSR – that had forced the Shah’s father, Reza Pahlavi, to abdicate in 1941 put his son on the throne the same year.
Opposition to Shah and his backers was never far from the surface.
In 1963, the Shah’s so-called White Revolution, a series of modernizing reforms, brought him into conflict with great leader of the contemporary Muslim world, Imam Khomeini. Imam Khomeini publicly denounced the Shah.
In response to developments, Imam launched a widespread awakening campaign among people in order to confront all conspiracies.
The culmination of Imam Khomeini's movement showed that the Shah's regime was unable to suppress the movement.
Following the victory of Islamic Revolution under the wise leadership of Imam Khomeini, the US continued to display its hostile policies by waging numerous plots and imposed sanctions.
The current administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions and colluded with anti-Iranian groups such as remnants of former Shah regime and MKO terrorists.
US President Donald Trump said in May that it was withdrawing his country from a nuclear deal Iran signed with major world powers in 2015 in blatant breach of international regulations.
Noting that the United States will regret imposing sanctions on Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has recently emphasized that the Iranian nation can overcome all economic hardships through unity.
The United States plans to re-impose a first round of sanctions against Tehran, which were lifted under the multilateral nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015, on Tuesday. The sanctions will cover Iran’s purchases of dollars, its trade in gold and precious metals, and its automotive sector.
Further sanctions on oil and transactions with the central bank of Iran will come into effect on November 4.
Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and that he plans to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, a United Nations expert has railed against the US for re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, saying the “unjust” move lacks a lawful purpose.
“The re-imposition of sanctions against Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been unanimously adopted by the Security Council with the support of the US itself, lays bare the illegitimacy of this action,” said UN Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy in a statement on Wednesday.
“This illegitimacy was confirmed by the opposition of all other permanent members of the Security Council and indeed of all international partners,” he added and noted such moves constituted a “wanton” attack on ordinary citizens as they lacked a lawful purpose and harmed “the human rights of ordinary citizens.”
“These unjust and harmful sanctions are destroying the economy and currency of Iran,” Jazairy stressed, warning the embargoes could risk the supply of medicines and even foodstuff as it makes it hard for Iran to provide them due to difficulties in imports and relevant payments.
The special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures also applauded efforts by the international community to reject the US economic bullying and said, “I am grateful for the efforts of the European Union in tackling this injustice, both through diplomatic efforts and through legislation to protect European companies from American sanctions.”
The expert highlighted the need for UN member states “to avoid the use of economic, political or other measures to coerce another state in regard to the exercise of its sovereign rights.”