One detail missing from Iran Nuclear Treaty withdrawal

I believe there is at least one pertinent detail missing from the discussion of President Trump’s announced intention to withdraw the U.S. from Iran Nuclear Treaty. While Trump alleges Iran has violated the terms of the treaty, Gwynne Dyer notes in his May 13 column carried in The Herald that the other signatories to the agreement — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — agree that Iran is in full compliance with the terms of the treaty.

But the pertinent detail? In all the discussion about this topic, little attention has been given to the U.S. role in the 1953 coup d’état that transferred power from the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh to the corrupt and authoritative Shah Pahlavi.

The U.S. dissatisfaction with the elected government of Iran had to do with oil. Believing that Iran should be seeing a larger share of its oil wealth, Prime Minister Mosaddegh announced plans to audit the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, now part of BP. To forestall this and any subsequent restrictions on the operations of Anglo-American oil, the CIA and its British counterpart launched a coup on Aug. 15, 1953. This led to the installation of a pro-American, anti-Communist regime which relied on American support to remain in power until 1979, when it was replaced by the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Given its role in the recent history of Iran, perhaps the U.S. should reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Treaty.

Robert D. Tarleck

Lethbridge