The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations

547 Pages·1988·9.096 MB·English

by  James A. Bill

"The most detailed ond vivid account yet of
Amenco's encounter with Iron." - Fouod A1om1,
New York Times Book Review
THE
EAGLE
AND THE
LIO
THE TRAGEDY OF
AMERICAN-IRANIAN
RELATIONS
JAMES A. BILL
The Eagle and the Lion
THE TRAGEDY OF AMERICAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS
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The Eagle and the Lion
THE TRAGEDY OF
AMERICAN-IRANIAN
RELATIONS
JAMES A. BILL
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Copyright © 1988 by James A. Bill.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that
copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public
press), without written permission from the publishers.
" Printed in the United States of America"
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Bill, James A.
The eagle and the lion : The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations / James A. Bill.
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-300-04412-6 (pbk.)
1. United States-Foreign relations-Iran. 2. Iran-Foreign
relations-United States. 3. United States-Foreign
relations-1945-4. Iran-Foreign relations-1941-1979. 5. Iran
Foreign relations-1979-I. Title.
E183.8.I7B5 1988 87-22503
327.73055-dc19 CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production
Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
For My Friends, My Family
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Transliteration xiii
Introduction
PART I
1. America and Iran: Early Entanglements 15
2. Petroleum Politics and the American Intervention of 1953 51
3. The Politics of Reaction and Pahlavi Retrenchment, 1954-1961 98
4. An Interlude of Reform: John F. Kennedy and Iran, 1961-1963 131
5. Counterreform, Lyndon Johnson, and Pahlavi Retrenchment, 1963-1970 154
6. Iran, America, and the Triumph of Repression, 1971-1977 183
7. America and the Iranian Revolution, 1977-1979 216
8. The Islamic Republic and America: Ruptured Relations and a Venture in
Rapprochement 261
PART 11
9. Pahlavism in America: The Informal Politics of Foreign Policy-Making 319
10. The United States in Iran: Diplomats, Intelligence Agents, and Policy-
Making 379
11. The Politics of Foreign Policy Failure: A System of Reinforcing Errors 425
Bibliography 449
Notes 462
Index 510
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Acknowledgments
This book is the result of an education provided by a large number of
patient and informed individuals, both American and Iranian, over a
period of twenty-eight years. Three leading scholars of Iran and the
Middle East at Princeton University directed the formal part of this
education-the late T. Cuyler Young, Martin Dickson, and, especially,
Manfred Halpern. All three must be counted among those scholars
whose greatest contributions reside in the permanent imprints they
have left on the hearts and minds of their students. All three under
stood that the spirit, or ruh, of the United States and Iran is often as
important as the objective realities that energize these social and po
litical systems. Each in his own quite different way has passed this
understanding along to me.
Professor Ervand Abrahamian read this entire manuscript thor
oughly and critically, and his comments and suggestions have been
indispensable in shaping the final product. Nikki Keddie also read and
meticulously critiqued the manuscript. Among the other careful crit
ics who have read sections of this study are Iran specialists Eric Hoog
lund, Gregory Rose, and especially William Royce, an American with
an extraordinary understanding of Iran; accomplished social scien
tists and scholars Benjamin Page, Thomas Ferguson, Mark Gas
iorowski, William Roger Louis, and William Dorman; Iran-seasoned
diplomats and government officials Carl Clement, David Long,
Michael Metrinko, Charles Naas, Earnest Oney, Henry Precht, John
Waller, and John Washburn; and lawyers with firsthand knowledge of
Iran and Iranian-American relations William Butler, Stephen Cohen,
Cyrus Ghani, and Donald Weadon.
Others who have assisted me in many ways to prepare this book
include journalists Kai Bird, Max Holland, and Robin Wright; past
American friends in Iran John and Nancy Diekelmann, Walter and
Louise Kaiser, Don Linehan, Andrew Mott, John Newton, Terence
O'Donnell, Dick and Pat Roloff, and Ned and Nora Snyder; us1s em-
ill