Indeed, while we in the West are unaware of it, Iran was the victim, in 1917-1919, of the largest genocide of the First World War. 6 to 8 million people died of starvation out of a population of 18 to20 million, or between a quarter and a third of Iranians. Iran, although neutral, was crushed by the British armies, against a backdrop of rivalry with the Bolsheviks and the Ottomans. This horror has left a traumatic memory that is still very present in Iran. There is no doubt for an Iranian that the United Kingdom is his country’s primary enemy.

The British, who had colonized Iran behind one of their officers, Reza Shah (1925-1941), overthrew him to place his son in power, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979). Behind these screens, they plundered the country’s oil. However, in 1951 the Shah chose Mohammad Mossadegh as Prime Minister. The latter nationalized the oil to the detriment of London. This ensued a quarrel during which the British made a bad faith assault and a color revolution that they organized with the help of the United States. This was “Operation Ajax“. The new regime was no longer held by London, but by Washington. The United States Embassy, which installed the telephone, placed derivations on the lines of all the ministers to listen to them without their knowledge, live. This system was exposed during the 1978 revolution. Iranians therefore have no doubt that the United States is their second enemy.

When Mossadegh was overthrown, the British imposed General Fazlollah Zahedi in his place. Zahedi was a Nazi they had imprisoned in Cairo, but London was counting on him to restore “order.” He therefore formed a secret police force modeled on the Gestapo. He recruited former Nazis to train it, and several hundred “revisionist Zionists” were sent by Yitzhak Shamir (then working for the Mossad) to supervise them. The horrors of the SAVAK, the most terrible secret police in the world at the time, can still be seen in the museum dedicated to it in Tehran. Iranians therefore have no doubt that Israel is their third enemy.