Forgotten History Reveals Centuries of U.S.-Iran Friendship

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A new book explores the forgotten history of friendly relations between the United States and Iran, tracing the connection back to Thomas Jefferson's personal library and the influence of the ancient Iranian king Cyrus the Great. The article argues that the current era of hostility is the exception, not the norm, in U.S.-Iran relations, which have been marked by centuries of mutual admiration and cooperation.

Why it matters

Understanding the deep historical ties between the U.S. and Iran could help policymakers and the public move past the frozen conflicts of the past and find new avenues for diplomacy and cooperation. Reclaiming this forgotten history challenges the narrative of inherent enmity and shows that war is not the natural order of U.S.-Iranian relations.

The details

The article traces the origins of U.S.-Iranian friendship to Thomas Jefferson's personal library, where he kept a copy of the Cyropaedia, a text about the virtuous governance of the ancient Iranian king Cyrus the Great. Jefferson saw in Cyrus' Iran a model of a multi-ethnic, multi-faith society that inspired his own ideas about religious tolerance. In the 19th century, the admiration flowed the other way, as Iranian intellectuals began looking to the young American republic as an idealized power. The two nations initiated a treaty of friendship in 1850, and Iran even proposed that American-made warships should patrol the Persian Gulf. American missionaries, teachers, and financial experts also built strong ties with Iran in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This period of friendship lasted through World War II, but the 1953 coup and the Cold War shifted U.S. priorities away from Iran's democratic aspirations. Yet even as the U.S. became Iran's primary benefactor, the human connections continued, with thousands of Americans and Iranians participating in study-abroad programs and cultural exchanges in the 1960s and 1970s.

• In the 6th century B.C., Cyrus the Great was the Iranian king depicted in the Old Testament as the liberator of Babylon who enabled the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
• In the 4th century B.C., Xenophon wrote the Cyropaedia, a text that served as a manual on governing with virtue, which Thomas Jefferson kept in his personal library at Monticello.
• In 1850, the U.S. and Iran initiated their first treaty of friendship.
• In the early 20th century, American missionaries, teachers, and financial experts built strong ties with Iran.
• In the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Americans and Iranians participated in study-abroad programs and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

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