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Presidents, pragmatism and power in the Middle East
Biden’s attitude towards the Middle East is beginning to take shape as Iran builds towards a presidential election of its own. STEVE BISHOP considers the issues facing the leadership in both countries
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) and (right) US President Joe Biden

IRAN’S national democratic revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship of the Shah in 1979, was a culmination of demands for democracy and progress that had been simmering in Iran since the MI6-inspired overthrow of the government of Mohammad Mossadegh in the 1953 coup.

That the revolution was subsequently hijacked by reactionary theocratic forces, resulting in the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is one of the modern-day tragedies of the politics of the Middle East.

The mission of the leaders of the Islamic Republic has, for much of the past 40 years, been reasonably clear. The Islamic Republic has been predicated on exporting Islamic revolution across the region based upon the Shia tendency within Islam, as opposed to the form of Sunni Islam supported by Saudi Arabia.

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