How the US provided nuke technology to Iran

**Gumpfendorfer** · March 20, 2006, 01:50 AM

http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&ar...t&index=recent

US citizens can be gratefull to Rummie and Wolfie: arming Iran, Saddam, Taliban: part 'only god knows how much' of the sad story how the US creates its own enemies.

**Pandora** · March 20, 2006, 02:33 AM

The US has troughout the past decades armed different guerillas in different countries over the whole world. They have done this in order to dispose of a dictator with the sad result of creating an even worse dictator who they have had to dispose of when he has gotten troublesome

**Darth Wong** · March 20, 2006, 02:42 AM

US policy in the Middle East has long been to keep the predominantly Islamic states weak by continually pitting them against each other so that they can't join forces and become a more formidable power bloc.

The problem with that policy is that people start figuring out what you've been doing, and then they start hating you for keeping the whole region down. Al-Quaeda propaganda videos score a lot of points with potential recruits by simply detailing the sordid history of American involvement in Mideast affairs.

**Hub'ite** · March 20, 2006, 08:56 AM

This isn't anything new. We've been doing this for decades. We arm and supply rebels to dispose of one dictator and usually they become the new dictator.

**Erik** · March 20, 2006, 12:29 PM

Iran was a democracy before the US installed the Shah.

The Shah was a brutal dictator who murdered many Iranians...but he was also America's best friend.
America is still angry at Irans current government because they overtrew the Shah.

**MadBurgerMaker** · March 20, 2006, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Erik

Iran was a democracy before the US installed the Shah.

The Shah was a brutal dictator who murdered many Iranians...but he was also America's best friend.
America is still angry at Irans current government because they overtrew the Shah.

Hm...

The last guy to be called the "Shah" rose to the throne there during World War 2. The Allies (the UK and USSR, actually) forced his father, who was the previous Shah (and had gained power in the country in a 1921 coup, naming himself the Shah in 1925), to abdicate in 1941 in favor of his son.

From 1794 - 1925, a different family (Qajar) was in power.

Qajar Dynasty Kings:

Agha Mohammad Khan 1794 - 1797
Fath'Ali Shah 1797 - 1834
Mohammad Shah 1834 - 1848
Naser o-Din Shah 1848 - 1896
Mozaffar o-Din Shah 1896 - 1907
Mohammed Ali Shah 1907 - 1909
Ahmed Shah 1909 - 1925

Pahlavi Dynasty Kings:

Reza Shah Pahlavi 1925 - 1941
Mohammad Reza Shah 1941 - 1979

There are earlier rulers, etc, going pretty far back.

The Prime Minister (Mohammad Mosaddeq, a member of the Qajar family, interestingly enough) who was overthrown in 1953 was actually appointed to that position by the last Shah. This Prime Minister was also the one to set up a national referendum to dissolve the Iranian Parliament. He wasnt this freedom loving type of guy who was removed from power by the evil United States.

Ugh...this is too time consuming. See the below for more info.

Sources: a combination of the Iran Chamber Society, Wikipedia, and a couple of BBC timelines. There were probably others I used...Google is your friend!

**Erik** · March 20, 2006, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by MadBurgerMaker

The Prime Minister (Mohammad Mosaddeq, a member of the Qajar family, interestingly enough) who was overthrown in 1953 was actually appointed to that position by the last Shah.

A prime-minister is by defenition appointed by the head of state, but this doesn't mean he isn't elected in a democratic way.

This is how a constitutional monarchy works:
-The people elect a parliament.
-Parliament then selects who wil become prime-minister.
-The head of state then officially appoints the candidate selected by parliement.

Mosaddeq was very popular with the Iranian people.

This Prime Minister was also the one to set up a national referendum to dissolve the Iranian Parliament.

This was AFTER he found out the US was plotting to remove him from power.
And he won this referendum, so it was still democratic.

He wasnt this freedom loving type of guy who was removed from power by the evil United States.

He was a DEMOCRATIC LEADER who was removed by the US because the US wanted cheap oil.
Even if he wasn't a "freedom loving guy", he was still the guy the Iranian PEOPLE elected to lead their country.
Nobody is perfect, but Mosaddeq was 100 times better than the Shah.

**MadBurgerMaker** · March 21, 2006, 01:33 AM

Edited out. Feel free to delete this, or just leave it till I can fix it later today. :original:

Edit2: Oh dammit....Forget it...I cant see previous posts while editing.

**Nationalist_Cause** · March 21, 2006, 10:09 AM

We did indeed provide nuclear technology to Iran back in the 70's. Luckily for our government today, people either don't know about it or conveniently ignore the fact because they want a reason to invade yet another sovereign state.

The ironic thing about the NPT is that it was supposed to entice states to sign by giving them updated nuclear energy technology in return for oversight. Those members who held nuclear weapons or had such programs pledged to disarm which, of course, never happened. Other countries, such as Israel, Pakistan, and India, never signed the treaty and developed their own weapons and energy programs almost unmolested by the world community. It appears to some states that the NPT has lost any meaning it once had. I agree with them.