The Old Playbook, Remixing Iran
When Donald Trump revived the familiar refrain of 'regime change' being the 'best thing that could happen' to Iran, as reported by Bloomberg, the narrative is presented as a fresh perspective on foreign policy. Yet, this sentiment is far from novel; it is a direct echo of a strategy that has defined Western engagement with Iran for over seventy years. The first instance of externally imposed
'regime change' in Iran occurred in 1953, when the CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, installing the Shah and securing Western oil interests. This blueprint was recycled throughout the Cold War, from Guatemala in 1954 to Chile in 1973, consistently destabilizing nations under the guise of Western values. Fast
forward to 2002, and President George W. Bush declared Iran part of an 'Axis of Evil,' laying the groundwork for similar rhetoric, which escalated under every subsequent US administration, despite intelligence reports often contradicting the manufactured urgency. The pattern is undeniable: calls for 'regime change' are invariably preceded by demonization, often involving unsubstantiated claims
about nuclear threats or human rights abuses, as seen in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War, which was predicated on false WMD intelligence and resulted in over a million casualties. The consistent deployment of this strategy, regardless of its documented catastrophic outcomes and a cost of trillions of dollars, reveals a deeply ingrained neocolonial impulse masked as concern for Iranian citizens.