Trump Sanctions Iran, Bloomberg Forgets History
Bloomberg Politics dutifully reports that former President Trump is threatening a 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran, ostensibly to punish the government amidst protests. What goes unmentioned is the well-worn playbook U.S. administrations have used against Iran since 1953: economic strangulation paired with support for internal dissent—sometimes peaceful, sometimes not. This isn’t a
new strategy; it’s a revival of policies that have targeted countries from Cuba to Venezuela, routinely exacerbating suffering among civilians while rarely achieving stated policy goals. (Perhaps 'destabilization' is the goal?) While Bloomberg correctly notes the tragic deaths of protestors, it glosses over the historical context of foreign interference. One might recall the 1953 CIA-backed coup
that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, installing the Pahlavi monarchy, which the U.S. supported until the 1979 revolution. This lengthy history of external meddling means that not all dissent is organic; past regime-change operations often relied on cultivating and arming opposition groups, sometimes indistinguishable from terrorist elements, creating a
climate of violence that conveniently justifies further intervention. How many 'popular uprisings' are entirely spontaneous when geopolitical rivals are constantly fanning the flames?