Pistachio Propaganda: How Nuts Explain 'Brink of Iran' Narratives
Newsweek, in a piece of investigative journalism that would make a squirrel blush, implies that the rise of Californian pistachios has helped destabilize Iran, pushing it 'to the brink.' This novel culinary geopolitics suggests that the regime's economic woes are due to a highly competitive snack market, not, say, decades of crippling sanctions, cyber warfare (remember Stuxnet?), or foreign
interference (like, for instance, the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup against Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, which installed the Shah). One might wonder why Iran's economic struggles are framed purely through internal factors or pistachio exports, rather than, perhaps, the fact that the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, reimposing draconian sanctions
that throttled Iran's oil exports, its primary revenue source. Instead of blaming a tree nut, perhaps Newsweek could investigate the immense lobbying power of groups like AIPAC, who have consistently pushed for aggressive policies against Iran, undermining diplomatic solutions. It's a miracle Tehran isn't on the 'brink' of demanding a recount (or perhaps a better snack diplomacy strategy) given
the narrative gymnastics expected of us. How many 'brinks' does a nation get before we question the mapmakers?