EXPLAINER | Why US–Iran tensions run deeper than today’s crisis

Despite tensions in the Middle East escalating in recent weeks, the US-Iran conflict has been a decades-long one.

Dr Iraj Abedian, chief executive at Pan-African Investment and Research Services, explained that the seeds of anti-Western sentiment in Iran can be traced back to 1953, when a CIA-backed coup overthrew then democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, due to the country's oil reserves.

“The oil discovery in Iran... America wanted to make sure that it had access to as well as control over this important reserve.

“Mossadegh opposed the colonial control over the country’s national reserves, and that led to the coup d'état… And the hostilities ever since have been going on.”

Following the coup, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi resumed power, shifting from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian.

Abedian added that the second leg of anti-Western sentiments came in the 1970s when the clerical opposition vehemently opposed Iran’s modernisation and Pahlavi’s alliance with the West.

“They regarded it as an unadulterated imperialism.”

Abidian explained that this led to the development of two parallel anti-Western movements: one driven by nationalism and the other by religious ideology.

He added that the US and the Soviet Union's Cold War rivalry further complicated the situation, with the US supporting the Pahlavi’s regime and the Soviet Union backing the clerical opposition.

The anti-Western sentiment built up over 26 years culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the Shah overthrown and the creation of the Islamic Republic, led by Khomeini.

Abidian noted that Khomeini was backed by France, the United States, the UK, and Germany as they viewed Iran as an important region to stop the influence of the USSR.

“The best that they thought an anti-communist group would do is a fanatic, sheer clerical rule. They decided to put all the forces behind Khomeini… gave him all the publicity, and it took about 18 months to orchestrate a regime change in Iran.

“This became the third intervention by the US in Iran, which has been going on ever since.”

Today, the conflict between the US and Iran continues to escalate, with the US imposing sanctions and Iran responding with military action.

“In literature, it is referred to as the ‘Frankenstein monster’; you create them, and they turn on the creator.

"[And] the people are hostages to this anti-democratic, apocalyptic regime, which has been caught in a confrontation with Israel on the one hand and the United States," he added.

To listen to Abedian in conversation with 702’s Bongani Bingwa, use the audio player below: