1979: How the U.S. and Iran Went From Allies to Enemies

At the heart of the current U.S. war against Iran is an inconvenient truth: that the United States is, in many ways, responsible for creating the very regime it now seeks to topple.

Today, Scott Anderson, a New York Times Magazine contributor, tells the story of America’s outsize role in the Islamic Revolution, and why all these years later we’re still no closer to understanding Iran.

Guest: Scott Anderson, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading: It has been a trying time for the Islamic republic of Iran.

Photo: George Tames/The New York Times

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