The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Daily: Beyond the Headlines: A History of U.S.-Iran Relations
Apr 2, 2026
John Ghazvinian, historian and author of America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present, traces three centuries of U.S.–Iran interaction. He recounts early American fascination with Persia, shifting perceptions before 1979, the 1953 coup, the 1979 revolution and hostage crisis, Cold War and post-9/11 tensions, the JCPOA saga, and recurring missed chances for rapprochement.
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1979 Is The Anomaly In A Long Relationship
- The US–Iran rupture since 1979 is the anomaly in a 300-year relationship that was often warm and admiring.
- John Ghazvinian traced recurring positive perceptions back to colonial newspapers and missionary-era interactions shaping long-term mutual fascination.
Colonial Newspapers Obsessed With Persia
- Colonial American newspapers in the 1720s ran frequent Persia stories, even headlining "we regret that we have no news from Persia this week."
- Ghazvinian found entire pages about Persia tied to the 1722 Safavid collapse and American curiosity about Ottoman–Persian conflict.
Americans Idealized Persia As An Anti‑Ottoman Ally
- Early American perceptions cast Persians as preferable to the Ottoman 'evil' empire, mixing biblical tropes and faulty Sunni–Shia explanations.
- These orientalized, favorable images persisted into the 20th century and informed US receptiveness to the Shah.
