The two have not had diplomatic relations since the 1980 as Iranian students on November 4, 1979, seized 63 hostages at the American embassy in Tehran demanding the return of the Shah to face trial. During the same year, Western-backed Iraq invaded Iran, giving way to a war that lasted for the following eight years. Forty years later, the hostility between the two only seems to worsen.
As Iran marks its 40th year of revolution this month, hundreds and thousands of Iranians marched on February 11, and some burnt US flags to mark the anniversary with crowds chanting ‘Death to America’. In a response to US sanctions against Iran and its effort to curb its military power, Tehran also showed off its ballistic missiles. This confrontational approach by Tehran only led to President Trump tweeting “40 years of corruption. 40 years of repression. 40 years of terror. The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure. The long-suffering Iranian people deserve a much brighter future.”
While the US might be engaging in pressure tactics with President Trump’s overtly confrontational tweets, there is no denying the fact that Iranians face mounting economic hardships and a loss of freedom. Instead of focusing on the US or for that matter Israel, the Iranian leadership should work towards setting its own house in order.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2019.
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