“One fifth” of the World’s oil pours through the Strait of Hormuz. With the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, that passage is closed. [FN1] That will fuel inflation, an aspect of “economics.” [FN2] Those clueless about economics need not worry. trump, too, is clueless. [FN3] 1/17

History [FN4] provides perspectives of great value, [FN5] that too often are ignored, forgotten, or never learned. Americans’ ignorance about Iran and about U.S. actions in and to Iran are staggering. We should be aware of this history. 2/17

1) The U.S. overthrew Iran’s elected government. In 1953, Mohammad Mossadegh, the prime minister elected by Iran’s people [FN6], was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup. He advocated Iran’s control over its main natural resource: oil. [FN7] That did not go well. 3/17

2) We placed the Shah on the Peacock Throne. [FN8] He nationalized Iran’s oil [FN9] & was a leader in OPEC, which created the “energy crisis” of 1973-74 by restricting the supply of oil to drive up its price. [FN10] [FN11] The Shah was not popular w/many Iranians. 4/17

3) We helped the Shah form & train his secret police, SAVAK, [FN12] which tortured Iranians. [FN13] The Shah was overthrown. When we allowed the Shah into the U.S. for cancer treatment. [FN14] people in Iran took it as an insult & stormed our embassy. 5/17

4) Reagan’s people found a way to drive down the price of oil. We provided intel &/or materiel to both sides when Iran and Iraq went to war. Oil prices plummeted. [FN15] This cynical play on a war for our economic benefit did not endear us to many people in Iran. 6/17

5) Supporting the Shah’s son is imprudent. U.S. policies and actions in Iran have been marked by a succession of failures. Also, our support of Ngo Dinh Diem in Sout Vietnam ended as Diem was dragged from his palace and murdered. [FN16] Cynicism is justified. 7/17

Inflation will skyrocket. People have died since this boneheaded invasion, violating both the Constitution and the War Powers Act, was launched. Maybe Hegseth perked at mention of “a fifth” pouring through the Strait of Hormuz. But Iran is dry. 8/17

Footnotes:
FN1. “IRGC tell ships passage through Strait of Hormuz 'not allowed,'” Reuters, 2/28/26.
FN2. “a branch of knowledge dealing with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974 ed., p. 231. 9/17

FN3. A Penn econ prof said trump was “the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” Wolf, J.D., “Trump Shared a Fake Quote From Professor Who Actually Thought Trump Was ‘the Dumbest’ Student,” Meidas News, 5/8/24, accessed 4/5/25. 10/17

FN4. “a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974 ed., p. 336.
FN5. “The significance, desirability, or utility of something.” Black’s Law Dictionary, New Pocket Ed,. (1996) p. 652. 11/17

FN6. A founding principle of this country, espoused in one of our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence, is government by consent of the governed, not government by a foreign power that wants control of a nation’s natural resources. 12/17

FN7. “In 2013, a declassified CIA internal document publicly confirmed the U.S. involvement: The military coup ‘that overthrew [Mossadegh],’” Washington Post, “The U.S. helped oust...” 6/19/25, accessed 6/22 25.
FN8. Id. 13/17

FN9. Tabibzadeh, Kambiz, “Iran Announces Nationalization of Foreign Oil Interests,” EBSCO, accessed 6/22/25.
FN10. Cooper, Andrew, “The Fall from Heaven,” (2016), pp. 198-99, accessed 6/22/25.
FN11. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. 14/17

FN12. Rose, Gregory, “The Shah’s Secret Police Are Here,” New York, 9/18/78, accessed 6/22/25.
FN13. Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell, “Torture still scars Iranians 40 years after revolution,” AP, 2/6/19, accessed 6/22/25. 15/17

FN14. “The Shah’s Health: a Political Gamble,” The New York Times Magazine, 5/18/81, accessed 6/22/25.
FN15. Two major oil producing countries at war w/each other sold as much oil as fast as they could to buy weapons. 16/17

FN16. See, Nigel Cawthorne, “Vietnam: A War Lost and Won,” pp. 22-23; also, Wallechinsky and Wallace, “The People’s Almanac,” pp. 466-67. 17/17