US Leverage Tools in Iran in 1950s - 1960s

The study presents an analysis of American influence in Iran after the World War II. The author describes how American foreign policy concepts worked in Iran, and opened a window into the country for American oil industries. The importance and relevance of the article lie in the fact that the players have not changed significantly, nor have the rules of the game and the actions they evoke changed much. Although the foreign policy toolkit of the US has been modernized, very often old methods are still practiced in the region, thus the study and analysis of those are very valuable today. The author tries to identify the problems of Iran in the second half of the 20th century, to study them in parallel with American foreign policy concepts, to present and analyze how American concepts paved the way for the expansionist policy of the United States. The key finding of the research shows that every American foreign policy concept was basically implemented only in case of the continuity of the power of the same party. Thus, Republican D. Eisenhower promoted the concept of supporting American oil tycoons. After him, Democrat J.F. Kennedy did not continue this approach in full, but only retained some elements. J.F. Kennedy believed that if the Iranian government was headed by a skilled prime minister, an adherent of Western values, who could properly manage the Iranian economy, then Iran would become a regional ally for the United States rather than a dependent country. After J.F. Kennedy, L. Johnson continued the foreign policy approach regarding Iran by promoting the country’s reformation through the White revolution. However, as history proved, the White Revolution failed to solve all the socioeconomic problems of Iran in the short term. Instead, the monarchy faced new and already fatal problems. The sources for this paper were the archives of the US presidents, the archives of the US State Department, the memoirs of a number of politicians, the correspondence between the US presidents and the Shah, as well as the Iranian press of that time. The author has applied the historical-comparative method, using the principles of content analysis.