Persepolis 2 "Iranian Revolution"

Persepolis 2 is the second part of the auto-biographical graphic novel about Marjane Satrapi, someone who was a young girl during the Iranian Revolution. This part of her story details her venture into France when sent away for her safety. How people treat her in France gives an interesting view on the event, given the history of the Revolution.

The Iranian Revolution was a result of a history of unfortunate monarchy and a combination of US and British interference. In the early 1950's during the Cold War, the US feared Iran falling to Communism due to its being in close vicinity to the Soviet Union. Of primary concern was the potential for Iran to end up as a source of oil for the Soviets. "Thankfully", the Shah, bloodline monarch of Iran, would co-operate with them and promise not to ally with the Soviet Union. Through a long campaign of covert affairs, the US ultimately supported the Shah by performing a coup d'etat against the democratic political leader, Mossadeq, who was suspected of being a Communist sympathizer.

For years afterward, the people placed the blame of this on several sources: Britain, themselves, but they remained in the dark about US involvement. (Source: http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/) It eventually came to light, however, and Iran was quick to respond to them, such as when a group of people attacked the US Embassy, resulting in the Iran hostage crisis.

Source: http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200911/iran-hostage-crisis-tehran-embassy-oral-history

This took place in 1979, 5 years prior to Satrapi's initial arrival in France. This puts things into perspective, though it doesn't really illustrate the significance of this point in time. Although Iranians knew what the CIA had done, US citizens did not. At least in the US, the Iranian Revolution was not of great concern to the public. It was only after the attack on the US embassy that people started to care, and even then it was in spite of Iran. In this way, the stigmas present in anti-Iranian sentiment are understandable. To exemplify this disdain, Satrapi says that at the time,

"Iran was the epitome of evil and to be Iranian was a heavy burden to bear." (Pg 41)

Now, the story itself more focuses on the life and times of Marjane Satrapi, but knowing this part of history adds a lot of depth to one's perception of the events in book. It acts as a good way to contrast what history has reported on with what a person who experienced the events has reported on.

(Background Knowledge on CIA coup d'etat from All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer)