France's Role in Iran Regime Installation

The current unrest in Iran has drawn international attention, but for Pierre Vermeren, it also revives complex historical narratives. The professor of contemporary Maghreb and Middle Eastern history at the Sorbonne emphasizes that the roots of the current regime are intertwined with foreign intellectual influences. Specifically, he points to the role of France in the events leading up to 1979.

The Islamic Republic was established following the ousting of the Shah, a period where intellectual support from Western nations played a complex role. Vermeren's commentary serves as a critique of the collective memory in France regarding this era. He suggests that the current protests offer a moment to re-evaluate this history.

Vermeren's central thesis is that France has a specific debt to the Iranian people. This is not a financial debt, but a moral and historical one. It is rooted in the alleged complicity of the French intelligentsia during the critical period of the regime's installation.

The historian argues that this complicity has had lasting consequences. By supporting or legitimizing the forces that eventually formed the Islamic Republic, segments of the French intellectual establishment contributed to the current situation. Therefore, as the regime vacillates under pressure from its populace, France faces a reckoning with its own past actions.

The term intelligentsia refers to the intellectual elite, and Vermeren specifically targets this group in his analysis. He posits that their influence extended beyond academic circles and into the political sphere of Iran. The complicity he describes suggests an active participation or endorsement of the ideological shifts that occurred decades ago.

This critique implies that the intellectual climate in France during that time was not merely an observer but a participant in the transformation of Iranian society. The professor's argument challenges the prevailing narrative that views the establishment of the Islamic Republic as solely an internal Iranian affair, suggesting external intellectual factors were at play.

Vermeren's statements have potential implications for how France approaches its foreign policy regarding Iran today. Acknowledging a historical debt might necessitate a different diplomatic stance or a re-evaluation of support for the Iranian people's aspirations for change.

The historian's argument suggests that ignoring this history would be a mistake. As the Islamic Republic faces its most significant challenges in years, the connection between past intellectual complicity and present political realities remains a poignant topic for discussion in diplomatic and academic circles.