The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has lasted for half a year, in this seemingly fierce contest between Russia and Ukraine, the undercurrent is surging, many forces are fighting in their own way, and as time progresses, more and more opponents begin to surface, making the outcome of this war increasingly unknown and uncertain.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia and Iran signed a contract to supply Russia with 1,750 drones and Mohajer as early as the summer, and the first batch of about 350 drones were delivered to Russia, while the second batch was about 250. The Russian and Iranian sides did not acknowledge the authenticity of this information.
On November 5, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian admitted that he had supplied drones to Russia, a potentially complicated incident that brought Iranian drones into public view. It also made Iran, a mysterious country, attract everyone's attention.
A country with a long history of civilization
Iran is located in the east of West Asia, which is the center between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, with a total area of 1.648 million square kilometers, is the 17th largest country in the world, equivalent to 4 Iraq, bordering Central Asia and the Caucasus in the north, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean in the south, the South Asian subcontinent in the east, and the Arab world in the west, which is the intersection of several major geopolitical plates in Eurasia.
Map of Iran
Iran controls the narrow coastline on the northern shore of the Gulf and its throat Strait of Hormuz, Central Asia's only access to the Indian Ocean. Iran is a bridge between two world-class oil fields, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas reserve. It has unique geographical location conditions.
Archaeological studies have found that there were a large number of traces of agricultural activity near the Zagros Mountains as early as 8,000 years ago. 4,000 years ago, the Elamite people living in the southwest of the Iranian plateau, formed a series of tribal alliances, which originally meant "highlands", they gradually expanded, and 2,500 years ago the Elamite people established the first superpower in human history in the Karen River valley. It extends from Greece, Macedonia and Thrace in the west, Libya and Egypt in the south, the Caucasus in the north and the Punjab in the east. So far, Iraq, Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. belong to the Persian cultural circle. In the Middle East, only Persian and Hebrew are the languages that have survived for 2,500 years, and it is an ancient civilization with a civilization and culture that lasts for thousands of years.
It was not until 639 BC that Elam was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, after which countries such as the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persian Empire were born, and after thousands of years of change, a series of immortal cultures were created.
A tough struggle
Iran's history is both great and painful. After the Islamic Revolution, Iran was unfortunately labeled by the United States as an "axis of evil" and deeply demonized by the Western media, which is the result of Western manipulation of public opinion to smear and a clear example of Western hegemonism.
After the end of World War II, with the help of Western forces such as Britain and the United States, the young Pahlavi dynasty returned to the Iranian throne, during this time, Iran and the United States were in a honeymoon period, in the early 60s of the 20th century, the young Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi launched an ambitious industrialization and modernization movement - the "White Revolution" named after the royal color, the White Revolution is a social reform movement with grand goals, complex content, and hasty actions, it is like a flying revolution. Filled with yearning for Western society and ignoring and even contempt for one's own history and national conditions, all reforms that are considered "good things" are carried out by coercive and package means. Ignoring the country's historical traditions and the needs of the people of all strata, he introduced a set of privatization reform measures, starting from land, education, culture and other aspects, but in essence it was a bourgeois revolution, and in order to truly gain the support of the people, it aroused the dissatisfaction and opposition of all strata in the country.
Although many people tout that the Pahlavi era was the freest and most open era in modern Iran, this freedom and openness came at a price, or rather, this freedom and openness belonged only to the upper aristocracy and members of the royal family.
Iranian women during the Pahlavi period
Pahlavi's reforms are only to ease contradictions, and have not really changed the poor living conditions of Iran's underclass, and many reform projects are flashy, waste a lot of money, and even some projects bring harm to the people. In the process of industrialization, Iran produced a group of nouveau riche - bureaucratic comprador bourgeoisie - colluding with the royal family and foreign companies, resulting in the polarization of society. Pahlavi opened his country and allowed Western culture to flood into Iranian society, clashing with traditional Islamic culture. The large-scale expansion of military strength has placed a heavy burden on the Iranian economy, and the basic needs of the people for food, clothing, shelter and transportation have not been guaranteed. In 1972~1976, Iran ordered $10.4 billion in arms from the United States to maintain the dynasty's autocratic rule.
In 1979~1980, the adult literacy rate in Iran was only 36.5%, while the average number of years of education for Iranian women was only 1.3 years, and 80% of adult women were illiterate. Peasants flowed into the cities, workers lost their jobs, and assets such as land and factories were concentrated in the hands of the royal family and big capitalists. The royal family lived a corrupt life of drunken money, holding celebrations, high-end balls and other events throughout the day, and in order to combat domestic opposition, the royal family set up special secret services to monitor the people.
Western culture prevailed, Western decadent culture and lifestyle poured in, pornography, obscenity, murder books and film and television dramas flooded, casinos and brothels were openly active, Western-style bars and nightclubs competed for the market, a large number of women became victims, social customs were corrupted, and Iran's inherent Islamic cultural traditions and lifestyles were impacted, causing widespread dissatisfaction among Muslims in the country.
The trigger for Iran's Islamic Revolution was an article published on January 7, 1978, attacking religious leader Rakhomeini. After the article was published, it immediately aroused a strong response from the society, and people took to the streets one after another to express their dissatisfaction, and the situation was out of control, constantly spreading and intensifying, and finally formed a nationwide anti-king protest demonstration. In August 1978, demonstrations in Tehran involving millions of people broke out. At this time, Pahlavi eagerly awaited American support. As Pahlavi mobilized troops to suppress the anti-Shah movement by force, the United States, in order to preserve its long-term interests in Iran and the Middle East, demanded that Pahlavi make concessions to the opposition to calm the political turmoil. At this time, the decaying Pahlavi royal family has become another "outcast" of the United States. With 80% of oil workers joining the strike, the situation in Iran deteriorated further.
At the request of the United States, Pahlavi appointed General Ghulam Reza Azhari, chief of the general staff of the pro-American armed forces, as prime minister and formed a military junta. The junta was also unable to suppress the anti-Shah movement in full swing, and in December, a million-strong anti-Shah march broke out in the capital, Tehran, and the junta quickly collapsed.
On January 16, 1979, Pahlavi took his family abroad for a "long vacation", and the Pahlavi dynasty survived in name only, and on February 1, Khomeini returned from Paris and was warmly welcomed by millions of people, and on February 5, Khomeini appointed Mehdi Bazargan, the leader of the "freedom movement", as prime minister to form the "Provisional Government of the Islamic Revolution". It has won the support of the people. On February 12, the Pahlavi dynasty came to an end. Decades of U.S. investment in Iran have been declared bankrupt, and the beam between Iran and the United States is knotted! Not to mention the Iranian hostage incident that allowed the Americans to break their defenses
Iran hostage incident: Fierce Iran-US conflict
After a relentless struggle, the Iranians established a government in which they were in charge of their own country and free from foreign interference, which was the choice of the people. But the United States has not abandoned its attempts against Iran. The most typical example is the Iranian hostage incident of 1979-1981.
There is a strong hatred of the United States in Iran, and many people believe that the United States is behind Iran's political turmoil and corruption, and this is exactly what happened. In 1979, the United States allowed the exiled Pahlavi to travel to the United States, which ignited Iranian anger, and the Iranian government fiercely opposed it, thousands of students in Tehran surrounded the American embassy, chanting anti-American slogans, and on November 4, angry students climbed over the wall and stormed the embassy, and before they had time to evacuate, embassy staff and classified documents fell into the hands of students, and 66 Americans were taken prisoner.
The U.S. flag at the embassy was torn down by the students, burned to ashes, and raised a flag symbolizing Iran's Islamic culture. The news spread, shocked the whole world, and slapped Americans hard in the face.
Detained Americans
After the Iranian hostage incident, there was an uproar in the United States, although the Carter administration immediately imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran: on November 12, 1979, it ended oil imports from Iran; Some Iranians were deported from the United States; The assets of approximately $8 billion worth of Iranians in the United States have been frozen since November 14, 1979. However, it is still difficult to offset the negative effects caused by this. Documents found by Iranians inside the embassy show that the Americans did interfere in Iran's internal affairs, and embassy captives were often dragged blindfolded into the streets to march, surrounded by accusations and denunciations from the Iranian public.
Although the Iranian government did not plan the break-in into the embassy, after the incident, they claimed that it was retaliation for Iran's support for Pahlavi and interference in Iran's internal affairs, demanding that the United States hand over Pahlavi and apologize for the interference. At the same time, it was pointed out that as long as there was any rescue, all Americans would be executed.
On April 7, 1980, the United States announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran, and the next day, Iran announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with the Americans. Prior to this, the Iranians showed their goodwill by releasing 14 women, African Americans and a patient.
But the rude Americans did not appreciate it, and on April 22, 1980, US President Carter ordered the implementation of the "Blue Light Project" and sent special forces to rescue by force. After experiencing many accidents such as plane crashes, exposed camps, and plane collisions, Carter had no choice but to declare the operation a failure. Carter's approval rating plummeted in the United States, directly affecting his re-election.
The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Bush. Carter
But there are also successful cases of Americans, and when the Iranians broke into the embassy, six American staff members took advantage of the chaos to hide in the Canadian embassy and have been hiding ever since. After learning the news, the CIA planned a bold operation: send intelligence agent Tony Mendes disguised as a director of a science fiction film to Iran, and in the name of film investigation, the trapped 6 Americans were brought back to the United States after disguising their identities. In order to boast about this deed, Ben Affleh adapted it into the film "Escape from Tehran", starring Ben Affleck, Brian Cranston, Alan Akin, John Goodman, and won the 85th Academy Awards for Best Picture. The ability of the United States to propagate public opinion and export ideology can be seen.
A still from "Escape from Tehran"
With the passage of time, the form became more and more unfavorable for the Americans, and several accidents brought the death to life, in July 1980, Pahlavi, who was treated in the United States, lost a reason to detain Americans, on September 22, Saddam Hussein commanded the Iraqi Air Force to bomb 15 cities and military bases including Tehran, the "Iran-Iraq War" that shocked the world broke out, Iran faced a more severe crisis, behind Iraq was the Soviet Union led by Brezhlenev, Confrontation with the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union at the same time is something that Iran cannot afford.
The third change occurred in the United States, where the Iranian hostage incident "dragged on for more than a year, the United States was frustrated internationally, and the hostage crisis deepened the humiliation and anger of Americans, and Carter's "moral diplomacy" was helpless." The Carter administration never recovered from the crisis. In November, Republican Ronald . Reagan defeated Carter to become the new president of the United States, and he said during the campaign that he would take tougher measures against Iran, which Iran certainly did not want.
After secret negotiations, the United States and Iran reached an agreement that Algeria would send a plane to return the 52 detained Americans to the United States, without Iran needing to make any compensation.
After more than 400 days, the Iranian hostage incident came to an end, but the confrontation between the United States and Iran has not ended, until today.