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The United States and Israel connected Saturday launched a sweeping attack connected Iran, raising the hazard of a wider determination war. In announcing the strikes, President Trump pledged to crush Iran's subject forces, to dismantle its atomic program, and yet to unit a alteration successful its enactment by appealing to the Iranian radical to "take implicit your government."
The strikes travel aft weeks of warnings from President Trump, pressing Tehran to judge a caller statement to curb its atomic program, on with earlier threats connected to the Iranian government's forceful crackdown connected protesters successful January.
In response, Iran launched aggregate waves of ballistic missiles toward Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait — each location to U.S. subject bases — reported being targeted, arsenic did Jordan.
To recognize however Iran's revolutionary powers came to beryllium and assistance explicate the current-day conflict, 60 Minutes is revisiting its decades-long sum of Iran.
From Mike Wallace's memorable interrogation with Ayatollah Khomeini conscionable days aft the Iranian Hostage Crisis began, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telling Scott Pelley helium was "like a CIA investigator," and President Ebrahim Raisi telling Lesley Stahl that making promises with the U.S. was "meaningless," present are immoderate of the highlights of 60 Minutes' reporting from Iran.
1974: Oil and the Shah of Iran
In aboriginal 1974, the Arab lipid embargo had been causing state shortages crossed the U.S. for months. Arab and Iranian lipid producers had chopped exports to countries that supported Israel successful its 1973 warfare with Egypt and Syria, and the embargo was driving up prices and stretching lines of cars waiting to capable up astatine state stations.
In February 1974, 60 Minutes analogous Mike Wallace traveled to Tehran to movie his archetypal interrogation with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In a candid conversation, Wallace asked the Shah, oregon "king" successful Farsi, astir the inflated lipid prices. He pointed retired that, portion cars successful the U.S. were lined up for miles, Iran's lipid profits were acceptable to spell up by 400 percent. The lipid companies, the Shah responded, were becoming affluent due to the fact that of manipulation, but for Iran, the wealth simply amounted to the country's "natural wealth."
Wallace besides asked Pahlavi astir corruption successful the Iranian authorities and visions of God the Shah had arsenic a child. When Wallace asked Iran's person wherefore helium was consenting to talk truthful frankly, Pahlavi responded that it was due to the fact that helium was not acrophobic of his people.
"It's not a governmental campaign," Pahlavi said. "I'm not going to look astatine the polls time to spot if I americium 2 degrees higher oregon lower. And that's due to the fact that this assurance exists betwixt maine and my people. They spot successful me; I spot successful them."
1976: The Shah and the question of torture
Mike Wallace returned to Iran to interrogation Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi each of the adjacent 2 years. In the 1976 conversation, Pahlavi's diagnostic candor was again connected display.
The Shah told Wallace helium was committed to a unafraid Israeli authorities but insisted the Israelis instrumentality the Arab lands they had taken successful 1967. That effort, Pahlavi said, was hindered by the "Jewish lobby" successful the U.S., which helium claimed pressured newspapers, banks — adjacent the U.S. president.
Wallace past asked the Shah astir his concealed constabulary force, SAVAK, an enactment akin to the FBI and CIA combined, which had a estimation for brutality. Wallace asked if SAVAK tortured its detainees.
"Not the torture successful the aged consciousness of torturing people, twisting their arms and doing this and that," Pahlavi responded. "But determination are intelligent ways of questioning now."
1978: Trouble brewing successful Iran
One twelvemonth earlier the U.S. Embassy takeover successful Tehran, Mike Wallace returned to Iran successful November 1978 to study connected the troubling trajectory successful the country. Rioters were trashing and burning Tehran successful absorption to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, portion the Shah's concealed police, SAVAK, arrested the large absorption fig who was astir to telephone connected Pahlavi to permission Iran to marque mode for a antiauthoritarian Islamic state.
"There is discontent crossed the full spectrum of the colonisation of Iran," Wallace said.
As thousands of mostly young Iranians marched successful the streets, Wallace reported, they shouted, "Down with the Shah! Death to the Shah!" The protesters burned the office of the National Iranian Gas Company but spared the U.S. Embassy, which was being protected by Iranian subject police. It was 1 of the fewer buildings successful Teheran being heavy guarded, suggesting that the Shah was grateful for the enactment President Jimmy Carter had offered him.
Though they had spoken galore times before, Pahlavi this clip refused an interrogation with Wallace. Instead, Wallace spoke with different Iranians, including Javad Alamir, a affluent businessman and politician. Alamir spoke astir the abuses committed by SAVAK and the rampant corruption plaguing the country's economy.
"What is truthful horrid astir the Shah? It's the unspeakable happening that has happened successful Iran during the past 4th of century," Alamir said. "We had the worst repression known successful the history."
1979: The Ayatollah interview
In aboriginal 1979, the Shah near Iran and went into exile, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini assumed power of the country. Although the Shah ne'er officially abdicated, the Iranian colonisation voted successful a nationalist referendum connected April 1 to go an Islamic republic and to marque Khomeini the country's ultimate leader, efficaciously replacing the Shah's secular authoritarian monarchy with an anti-Western theocracy.
In October 1979, the Shah entered the U.S. to person crab treatment, and successful response, Iranian militants connected November 4 seized the U.S. Embassy and took much than 50 Americans hostage. Exactly 2 weeks aft the Embassy takeover, Mike Wallace interviewed Ayatollah Khomeini from the beatified metropolis of Qom and asked Khomeini if the hostages would proceed being held if the Shah was not brought backmost to Iran.
"The 35-million colonisation of Iran privation this, and we indispensable analyse wherefore the colonisation wants the Shah returned. And unless helium is returned, the hostages volition not beryllium freed," Khomeini said.
To unafraid the interview, Wallace had agreed to inquire lone the questions the Ayatollah had agreed to beforehand. But arsenic helium sat crossed from Khomeini and the cameras were rolling, Wallace made a gamble to inquire questions that had not been approved.
To start, Wallace quoted Egypt's President Anwar Sadat, who had called Khomeini a "lunatic" and "a disgrace to Islam." Khomeini's translator hesitated to repetition the question, truthful Wallace asked it again. Khomeini countered that Sadat "compromises with the enemies of Islam," referring to the 1978 Egypt-Israel bid accords, and asked Egyptians to overthrow Sadat conscionable arsenic Iranians had pushed retired the Shah.
The Ayatollah, however, refused to reply erstwhile Wallace asked what mightiness hap if President Carter refused to instrumentality the Shah to Iran.
1980: Explaining Iranian animosity
On March 2, 1980, the American Embassy unit had been held for 120 days, a fig that would yet agelong to 444 days. At the time, astir 4 months aft the U.S. Embassy was archetypal overtaken, Mike Wallace filed a study for 60 Minutes to analyse wherefore galore Iranians believed the U.S. was complicit successful the Shah's perceived wrongdoings. Why, Wallace wanted to know, bash truthful galore Iranians endorse holding 52 Americans hostage?
Wallace began by explaining that the CIA had orchestrated the 1953 coup successful Iran that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and reinstalled Mohammad Reza Pahlavi arsenic the Shah. Furthermore, a classified Senate Foreign Relations Committee study confirmed that the CIA had helped the Shah acceptable up his concealed police, SAVAK. The CIA had provided the Shah wealth and grooming for SAVAK.
Wallace spoke with Max McCarthy, a erstwhile three-term Democratic congressman who had been property serviceman astatine the U.S. Embassy successful Teheran successful 1976. When McCarthy saw the indifference of the American diplomatic constitution successful Iran to the torture committed by SAVAK, helium resigned successful protest.
"That was a precise prevalent idea, giving the Shah what helium wants…" McCarthy said. "He was our pillar successful the Persian Gulf, and we built our full information connected this 1 man."
1997: President Hashemi Rafsanjani
In 1997, Mike Wallace again traveled to Iran to study connected the concern successful the Persian Gulf country. He interviewed President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was 8 years into his word and seldom spoke with Western journalists.
At the time, President Clinton had imposed a U.S. commercialized embargo connected Iran. The White House believed that that Iran was intentionally ruining the Mideast bid process, and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich had called Iran the astir unsafe federation connected Earth.
For U.S. officials, the biggest interest was that Iran's atomic programme was intended to physique a atomic bomb. Rafsanjani insisted, successful a refrain that would beryllium repeated by Iranian leaders successful the future, that his state lone wanted atomic energy.
Wallace asked Rafsanjani to curse connected Allah that his state was not successful pursuit of a atomic weapon.
"Swearing is not needed. Those who curse are the ones who privation to lie," Rafsanjani said. "We are not going aft the atomic weaponry oregon biologic weapons oregon chemic weapons."
2007: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
In September 2007, 60 Minutes analogous Scott Pelley traveled to Tehran to interrogation President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad up of his planned travel to the UN General Assembly successful New York. Ahmadinejad had angered galore the anterior week by requesting to sojourn crushed zero erstwhile helium was successful New York.
In the interview, Pelley pressed Ahmadinejad astir his country's atomic program, which seemed determined to proceed enriching uranium, adjacent though the United Nations Security Council had demanded that it stop. Ahmadinejad claimed Iran lone wanted atomic energy, but the White House nether President George W. Bush said Ahmadinejad was pursuing a bomb.
"In governmental relations close now, the atomic weaponry is of nary use," Ahmadinejad said. "If it was useful, it would person prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful, it would person resolved the problems the Americans person successful Iraq. The clip of the weaponry is passed.
When Pelley continued to inquire Ahmadinejad specifically astir whether helium would pledge not to trial a atomic weapon, Ahmadinejad got defensive, telling Pelley helium was acting similar a CIA interrogator.
"This is not Guantanamo Bay," Ahmadinejad said. "This is not a Baghdad prison. This is not a concealed situation successful Europe. This is not Abu Ghraib. This is Iran. I'm the president of this country!"
2015: President Hassan Rouhani
In summertime 2015, Iran signed a landmark accord with six satellite powers: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany. The agreement, formally known arsenic the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), curtailed Iran's atomic programme successful speech for lifting definite economical sanctions. That September, 60 Minutes analogous Steve Kroft traveled to Tehran to talk to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani astir the deal.
"Some groups and governmental parties whitethorn beryllium against it, but the governments of the world, each together, welcomed this deal," Rouhani said.
Through the JCPOA, Iran was required to vessel 98 percent of their enriched uranium retired of the country, fastener up thousands of centrifuges, adjacent its bombproof enrichment installation astatine Fordow, disable its dense h2o reactor astatine Arak, and taxable to rigorous planetary inspections. Opponents of the pact successful the U.S. argued that the U.S. had fixed distant excessively overmuch for precise small successful instrumentality from Iran. The absorption successful Iran was besides intense, including from the caput of the Revolutionary Guard.
Since the deal, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei had continued to notation to the U.S. arsenic the "Great Satan," a throwback to the days of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Kroft asked Rouhani if helium had the aforesaid presumption of the U.S.
"The enmity that existed betwixt the United States and Iran implicit the decades — the distance, the disagreements, the deficiency of spot — volition not spell distant soon," Rouhani told Kroft. "What's important is which absorption we are heading. Are we heading towards amplifying the enmity oregon decreasing this enmity? I judge we person taken the archetypal steps towards decreasing this enmity."
President Trump aboriginal withdrew the United States from the woody successful 2018.
2021: Inside the Iranian ballistic rocket attack
At the opening of January 2020, Iran and the U.S. were pushed adjacent the brink of war. The struggle began erstwhile President Trump ordered an American drone onslaught that killed Iran's astir almighty general, Qasem Soleimani. It ended six days aboriginal with an Iranian ballistic rocket onslaught against U.S. troops successful Iraq. CBS News nationalist information analogous David Martin reported connected the tense clip for 60 Minutes the pursuing February.
As Martin reported, Soleimani had orchestrated attacks which killed much than 600 U.S. troops during the American concern of Iraq. According to Marine General Frank McKenzie, Commander of U.S. forces In the Middle East, Soleimani was readying to bash it again. Until that point, the U.S. had been reluctant to spell aft Soleimani for fearfulness that sidesplitting him would lone provoke much Iranian attacks.
In effect to Soleimani's death, Iran launched 16 ballistic missiles from 3 locations. Five missed, but 11 landed astatine Al Asad airbase successful Iraq, wherever 2000 U.S. troops were stationed. Prior to the attack, the basal had scrambled to evacuate much than 50 craft and 1000 troops earlier the missiles hit. But the basal inactive had to beryllium manned.
Remarkably, nary U.S. troops were killed.
Martin asked General McKenzie what mightiness person happened had the basal not evacuated. General McKenzie estimated that the basal mightiness person mislaid 20 oregon 30 airplanes and 100 to 150 U.S. personnel. That situation, helium said, would person been precise different: "David, we had a program to retaliate if Americans had died."
Iran's Raisi: "We cannot spot the Americans"
When Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran's president successful 2021, his state was connected the receiving extremity of crushing economical sanctions brought by the United States.
The Obama administration, on with 5 different countries, had agreed to billions of dollars successful sanctions alleviation successful speech for Iran's statement to dismantle overmuch of its atomic programme and unfastened its facilities to extended planetary inspection.
But the Trump medication successful 2018 pulled out, saying it distrusted Tehran.
In 2022, Iran had been connected the verge of striking a caller deal. But by the clip 60 Minutes analogous Lesley Stahl arrived astatine the statesmanlike compound that September, Iran's demands had sent the atomic talks into a stalemate.
Raisi told Stahl helium could not spot the Americans.
"The Americans broke their promises. They did it unilaterally," Raisi said done a translator. "They said that, 'I americium retired of the deal.' Now making promises is becoming meaningless."
Raisi besides addressed his position of Israel, acknowledging determination were "some signs" the Holocaust had happened. He said helium believed Palestine was "reality," portion Israel was a "false regime" supported by America.
"If a authorities shakes hands with the Zionist regime, past they are besides an accomplice to their crimes," Raisi told Stahl. "And they are stabbing the precise thought of Palestine successful the back."
2023: Iranian dissidents look assassination attempts
In 2023, analogous Lesley Stahl reported connected the proxies Iran was deploying passim the world. Not simply fighters similar Hezbollah, Houthis, oregon Hamas. Tehran, Stahl reported, was besides hiring hitmen astir the satellite to intimidate, abduct, and assassinate perceived enemies of the regime. Those assassination attempts included connected U.S. soil.
"The Revolutionary Guard sought to procure either my kidnapping oregon my assassination, not straight by a Revolutionary Guard's member, but by seeking a hitman, who would transportation retired the occupation either successful the U.S. oregon abroad," John Bolton, a nationalist information advisor during President Trump's archetypal term, told Stahl.
Another people of Tehran's attacks was Masih Alinejad, a person successful the revolt against Iran's hijab laws. Forced to fly Iran successful 2009, she moved to New York, wherever she encouraged women successful Iran to nonstop her videos of them taking disconnected their headscarves.
Alinejad told Stahl the FBI informed her of an Iranian crippled to kidnap her.
Sanctions were not capable of a deterrent, she said. Bolton agreed.
"Why are we sitting here, softly talking astir this," helium told Stahl, "when they are, successful effect, saying they're going to perpetrate acts of warfare against American citizens connected American soil?"
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