As students at FCHS, we have many priorities. We have homework to complete, projects to plan, and friendships to maintain. Among these priorities, many do not have “International Conflicts” at the top of their list. Yet following the actions of the paired United States and Israel forces in the early morning of February 28th, students may be confused as to why, how, and where these attacks are happening. Moreover, how will they affect us?
Initially, Iran and the United States were civil, trusted partners. However, the United States and the United Kingdom organized a coup in 1953 that overthrew the Prime Minister of Iran and replaced him with a new leader, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. This leader served as a close ally to the United States and implemented the Western ideals he was intended to spread. The United States has historically been involved in regime changes to spread the cultural values of freedom and the economic principles of capitalism. However, after an immense civilian revolution in 1979, the Shah was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who therefore established an Islamic Republic. At the end of the day, most conflict in the Middle East, while simultaneously involving the United States, revolves around religion.
During this revolution, Iranian students seized the US Embassy that resided in the capital and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. After this point, there was no turning back for the Iran-US relationship.
Since this period of governmental shift, the two nations, along with Israel, have been a part of numerous “Proxy Wars.” Proxy Wars are when there are conflicts between 2 groups, and the US supports one group while Iran supports another, therefore going against each other but indirectly. Iran is commonly regarded as a key proxy supporter of terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran frequently funds these groups in their conquests of Lebanon and Gaza, respectively, to advance their strategic interests and attack Western adversaries. Since the United States positions itself as an anti-terrorism superpower, it is unsurprising that it becomes involved in this campaign against an assigned terrorism proxy group.
The White House has also claimed that they launched this attack to give the people of Iran a chance to retaliate against their oppressive government. In January, the people of Iran launched a mass protest to stand against the violations of human rights posed by their government. In response, Iranian military forces killed approximately 30,000 people according to some sources, and then immediately tried to hide the massacre from the world media. The United States claims to want to give citizens a chance to reseize their government following the death of many government officials. US military forces successfully took the lives of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a majority of Iran’s senior officials.
Yet the main focus of this conflict/war revolves around Iran’s nuclear and defensive program. Since the development of the nuclear bomb in World War 2, countries across the world have been scrambling to heighten and develop their defenses. The development of these arsenals will equip countries to defend themselves against attacks, but it currently at a stage of mere threat to other countries. Since Iran is notoriously anti-USA, the United States has been worried about its’ developing nuclear program and its’ ability to attack US military bases and even urban communities.
The narrative in the reasoning for this attack has been revolving on behalf of the White House. It is to be understood that Iran and the US were in the midst of a nuclear compromise just days before the start of the campaign. The Trump Administration has currently concluded that they launched the operation because they didn’t want to get hit first, but other officials have a different narrative. Other officials are saying that the State of Israel essentially told the US that American military bases were going to be attacked one way or another, so they could either join the Israeli offense or stand to the side.
We have entered a period of uncertainty in the foreign sphere. The only confirmed thing that both sides of the aisle agree on is that gas prices will go up.
I implore you to stay updated on this topic, as there is no concrete end and there are no concrete effects, yet. Keep up to date on nonpartisan news sources, but remember to prioritize your mental health in these uncertain times.
