In the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 28, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the beginning of the Iran war in a social media post.
The Department of Defense named the conflict Operation Epic Fury. Hostilities began with attacks from U.S. missiles and drones as well as fighter jets from Israel. The start of the war is noteworthy because it came during the holy month of Ramadan, a period when Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset.
The war also came on the heels of the latest round of negotiations aiming to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Reuters cited a New York Times report with officials in both Israel and the United States calling the beginning of the war “a preemptive strike.” Iranian officials declared a “long war” against the U.S. and Israel. This is the latest instance of military action in a region that has a long, complicated history with the U.S.
America and Israel have an advantage in sheer military firepower. Iran has an advantage that one might not think matters: its location. In order to fully understand the nature of this conflict, Iran’s geography must be examined because this is what allows Iran to maintain influence culturally, economically, and militarily. This influence is not just throughout the Middle East but on a worldwide scale.
Geography of Iran
Iran is a nation of 636,372 square miles, slightly smaller than the state of Alaska and the 17th largest nation in the world. Its borders include islands, rugged mountain terrain, lowland forests and arid deserts.
Located in Western Asia, Iran shares land borders with seven countries: Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of the world’s most mountainous countries, the western part of Iran is dominated by the Caucasus, Zagros and Alborz ranges. Its maritime borders include the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The northern part of Iran is home to lowland and montane forests while the east is mostly desert, including the Lüt Desert which registered a surface temperature of 159.3 degrees Fahrenheit (70.7 degrees Celsius) when measured by a NASA satellite in 2005.
Geography strengthens Iran culturally, economically & militarily
General Pasquale Prezioa, former Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, described the Zagros and Alborz Mountains as “the main defensive architecture of the territory. He also pointed out the mountains are “Iran’s geopolitical belt. It is along these ridges that the main cities and most of the population are concentrated. At the same time, they constitute the first line of defense against routes of strategic penetration from Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.” For example, the Zagros Mountains provide a natural border between Iran and Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, the conflict was drawn out, in part, because the mountainous terrain made conventional warfare impossible.
The land that constitutes present-day Iran is home to one of the world’s major most continuous civilizations, with its origins going back 700 years before the birth of Christ to the time of the Persian Empire. This history provides a focal point for Iranians to unite behind despite their ethnic differences. Geography enables Iran to position itself as a more powerful player among its Middle Eastern neighbors as it borders seven nations.
The Middle East Council on Public Affairs affirms “the significance of Iran’s relationships with its neighbors … is a central aspect of its regional policy. A complex interplay of cooperation and competition characterize these interactions with significant implications for the region’s stability and security. Iran’s neighborly engagement has been volatile, mixing antagonistic rhetoric with dialogue and strategic positioning.”
The Persian Gulf is of immense importance not just to Iran but to the global economy as a whole. It is one of the world’s most important regions for oil production. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway which connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most strategically important choke points. The International Energy Agency estimated an average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products were shipped through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025.
Axis of resistance
In recent years, Iran has maintained relationships with armed proxy groups throughout the Middle East. They are known as the Axis of Resistance, an unofficial collective of military and militia forces. Although members of the Axis of Resistance generally act independently of each other, they are united by Iran’s desire to limit American and Israeli influence throughout the region.
Escalating conflicts in the Middle East, beginning with the October 7 attacks in 2023, have severely weakened the Axis of Resistance’s influence. The decline has continued with the Israel-Hamas War, Israel-Hezbollah war and the 2024 Fall of Damascus.
Enter America
The U.S. has a long, complicated history with Iran. Once, the two nations were allies. During the late 19th century, Qajar Iran, as Iran was known from 1789 to 1925, worried about the colonial interests of both Russia and Great Britain. This mistrust increased when Iran was invaded by both the Soviet Union and United Kingdom during World War II. Meanwhile, the United States and Iran still maintained positive relations despite the U.K. and Soviet Union being U.S. allies.
This changed in 1953 when Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown in a joint operation instigated by the CIA and the United Kingdom’s MI6. One of the main reasons for the coup include Mosaddegh’s nationalization of Iran’s oil industry. After Mosaddegh’s ouster, the U.S., U.K. and France gained control of 40% of Iran’s nationalized oil industry. In return, Iran received the foundation for its nuclear program under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms For Peace” program. The U.S. later provided Iran with a reactor and weapons-grade uranium.
Any remaining positive relations between Iran and the U.S. came to an end on Nov. 4, 1979, when 66 Americans were taken hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran. The hostage incident, which lasted 444 days, is widely seen as one of the deciding factors in the election of Ronald Reagan as America’s 40th president in 1980. As part of the agreement to release the hostages, the U.S. promised not to interfere in Iranian affairs.
The U.S. later engaged Iran as a proxy despite a promise not to interfere. During the Iran-Iraq War, the U.S. supplied Iraq with equipment, training and money. However, it was discovered Reagan administration officials used money to sell weapons to Iran in violation of an embargo to secure the release of seven American hostages in Lebanon. The money came from an illegal deal to fund the Contras of Nicaragua in their fight against the Sandinistas. The event, known as the Iran-Contra Affair, led to nationally televised Congressional hearings, the indictment of 14 Reagan administration officials and a nationally televised mea culpa from Reagan himself.
Recent U.S.-Iran tension
The U.S. led a coalition of 35 nations to oust Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait in 1991. Although Iran declared neutrality in the conflict, named Operation Desert Storm, U.S. officials were suspicious they wanted to be the dominant force in the region. Sanctions under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were directed at materials that could be used to make weapons. A complete oil and trade embargo took place in 1995. The following year an embargo was placed on non-American companies investing more than $20 million a year in Iran’s oil and gas industries.
In 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with her Iranian counterpart for the then-highest level meeting between the two nations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Albright acknowledged America’s role in the 1953 coup. She referred to overthrowing Mohammad Mosaddegh and ensuing policy toward Iran “regrettably shortsighted” but did not apologize for the coup outright.
President George W. Bush established a back door channel with Iran after the Sept. 11 attacks for the purpose of defeating the Taliban, a common enemy of both nations. One-hundred and forty days after 9/11, Bush described Iran, Iraq and North Korea as being an “axis of evil” during his State of the Union address. Iran responded with support of Shiite militias during the Iraq War. In 2019, the U.S. Army released its findings in a study about the war, concluding “at the time of this project’s completion in 2018, an emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor.”
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions date back at least to 2007 when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared before the United Nations General Assembly. He referred to the dispute over his nation’s nuclear program as “closed.” The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate reported Iran’s nuclear weapons program ended in 2003. However, the enrichment of weapons-grade uranium has continued.
In 2015, a coalition of nations, the U.S., China, France, Russia, the U.K., Germany and the European Union signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Under the treaty’s provisions, Iran would virtually eliminate its supply of weapons-grade uranium and allow for a more intrusive inspection in exchange for sanctions relief. The JCPOA did not impose restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missiles.
The U.S. was not obligated to lift any sanctions not covered by the JCPOA. President Barack Obama was criticized by Republican lawmakers who used, in the words of then-House Speaker John Boehner, “every tool at our disposal to stop, slow, and delay this agreement.” President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, a move met with approval by many Republicans, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Then in 2019, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian Army, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
What does it all mean?
Trump and his sycophants have declared the war has been won. Iran’s unique geography makes a direct assault with soldiers on the ground difficult if not impossible. At the same time, Iran’s heavy reliance on its energy industry exposes susceptibility to sanctions and other forms of economic warfare. Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, however, is a powerful bargaining chip as any disruption in traffic through the strait has worldwide implications.
The Iran War didn’t begin with a surprise bombing in the early morning hours of Feb. 28. The U.S. has been applying economic pressure to Iran in the form of oil and trade sanctions as early as 1995. Eleven years later, in 2006, the United Nations would begin sanctioning Iran´s nuclear technology trade.
Of course, military action is the natural result of economic pressure. A ¨humanitarian¨ crisis or countries with leaders who are deemed to not go along with American and Western ideals are often used to justify U.S. intervention on foreign soil. We saw this idea at work earlier this year in Venezuela.
In conclusion
The Iran War is nothing new. This is American foreign policy: if a nation doesn’t want to play nicely, cripple them economically followed by sending in the bombs and missiles.
Donald Trump didn’t invent U.S. imperialism; he just governs by it, as U.S. presidents have done before him. His Cabinet can shout from the mountaintops the Iran War is not about oil, but history tells us that’s simply not true.
The U.S. has been trying to invade Iran for almost five decades simply to control its oil. Venezuela was just the dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, the carnage will not end unless “We, The People,” declare in a united voice that we will not accept the spending of billions of our dollars on the destruction of a foreign land while everything is running amok on the home-front.
Featured image: Photo by Moslem Daneshzadeh on Unsplash
Edited by: Kester Kafeero, Abbigail Earl & James Sutton
