Crisis and war: World Cup rivals, Iran and the US live in tension

One of the contemporary world’s greatest rivalries could have an unusual outcome at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Geopolitical foes, the United States and Iran, are part of the same group in the competition and will face each other on the 29th at 4pm in Al Thumama in a game that will determine the classification for the next stage.

The two teams last faced each other in France in 1998 and the Gulf nation won 2-1. In addition to the two, England and Wales were also close in Group B.

But off the field, the situation in both countries is one of tension and war, with the direct threat of armed conflict and the promise of revenge.

In 2020, the airport in Baghdad, Iraq, was bombed by American forces on the direct orders of then-President Donald Trump. In this bombing, two of Iran’s most important leaders were killed, which created a crisis between the United States and Iran. These include Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Forces, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, considered the most relevant military figure in the country; and Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, number 2 of the Popular Mobilization Forces (FMP).

From then on, the Iranian government promised revenge and the mild climate between the two countries became unsustainable.

1953 coup

However, even in anticipation of an imminent war, the relationship between the Americans and Iranians was not always a conflict. In fact, the history of friendship and alliance between the two is ancient, where both lived amicably. However, in 1953, the unity between the two countries was threatened by a coup d’etat programmed by the Americans to overthrow the democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and restore the monarchy in the country with the accession of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The operation called ‘Ajax’, organized by the CIA (American Central Intelligence Agency) with the help of MI6 (British Secret Service Military Intelligence Branch 6), was successful and is still considered one of the main pillars of hostility between Iranians and Iranians. North. -Americans. The United States’ support for the authoritarian Pahlavi government was the trigger that ignited the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

79 Revolution

In February, Iran again welcomed Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini, who until then was in exile in Paris for criticizing the government. Alongside leftists, liberals, and traditionalist Muslims dissatisfied with the corruption and authoritarianism of the Pahlavi, Khomeini initiated the overthrow of the ruler and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In November of the same year, a group of protesters raided the American embassy in Tehran, taking diplomats and American citizens hostage for 444 days. This event furthered the long history of sanctions between the world’s largest economic power and the Middle Eastern country. In 1980 the United States retaliated and broke off any diplomatic relations with Iran that still continue today. The 52 hostages were released only after the Algerian Accords, mediated by the Algerian government, were signed in January 1981 in the city of Algiers. .

The designation of Iran as a sponsor of terrorism during the administration of US President Ronald Reagan in 1984 led to the US imposing new sanctions, as well as opposing Iran’s international credit and import of products. -Use those intended for both civilian and military use.

As if that wasn’t enough, even under the Reagan administration, the US supported Saddam Hussein in the war between Iraq and Iran from 1980 to 1988, which allowed Hussein to use chemical weapons against the Iranians. This support was not welcomed by the Iranian people, and the image of the Americans worsened.

Nuclear deal and economic embargo

Relations between the United States and Iran deepened under President Barack Obama. He and the then Iranian President Hassan Rouhani even maintained a phone conversation that had not existed since the 1970s. The two countries signed a nuclear agreement in 2015 between Iran and major world powers such as the USA, Russia, China, Britain, and France. and Germany. Negotiations said Iran was determined to halt its nuclear program – and the consequent uranium enrichment for the purpose of producing atomic bombs – in return for the suspension of sanctions imposed by North Americans, and the deal was fulfilled for three years. He was broken by Trump after his election in 2018.

The effects of the embargo are visible in the economy of the Middle East to this day, and the USA’s threat to invade Iran and Iran’s promise to close the Strait of Hormuz again escalated the tension between the two countries. , connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the planet.