The modern history of Iran, and even much of its ancient history, has been shaped by repeated foreign interventions. This has deeply scarred the national psyche. Even in extreme circumstances, many Iranians instinctively react against the pretensions of outsiders to shape their country. At this moment, any regime or leader who reaches power with the endorsement of the United States and Israel would find it exceedingly difficult to govern.
Despite this history, some fantasize that Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah who was deposed in 1979, could return to power and forge a pro-American regime in Tehran. Hope lies with him, in part, because there is no other galvanizing figure among Iranian expatriates and the brave civil society leaders in Iran have been brutally repressed for years. Yet many both inside and outside Iran see Mr. Pahlavi as an unserious candidate who has little understanding of today’s Iran and has shown too much fealty to Israel and the United States.
For much of the 19th century and afterward, a weak Iran was forced to accept impositions from foreign powers. In 1908, after a one-sided deal with a pliant monarch, Britain took control of an ocean of oil that lay beneath Iranian soil. Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized the oil after World War II, but British and American leaders found this intolerable. In 1953 they staged a coup, deposing him and putting an end to Iranian democracy.
After that coup, the United States returned Mr. Pahlavi’s father, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, to the Peacock Throne, which he abandoned several days before. He ruled with increasing repression for 25 years. Finally, in 1979, a mass uprising forced him to flee. Various factors contributed to his downfall, but the central one was his lack of legitimacy. Iranians never forgot that he had been installed and propped up by foreigners and effectively ruled on their behalf.
Anyone who comes to power in Iran now on the backs of American and Israeli military power will carry the same stigma, even somebody with deep roots in the country like the shah’s son. Many Iranians would see any imposed leader as a tool of predatory foreigners. Touching the most sensitive nerve in Iran’s body politic is not a promising way out of this crisis.