Originally Posted by SentToStud

I think Iran USED to be as pro-west as you suggest. Not any longer. The British got greedy with how the ran the Anglo-Iranian Oil Corp., and this led directly to the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry.

Then the U.S. CIA and Britain ran a little covert op called Operation Ajax aimed to returning the Shah to power. It failed miserably and fueled Iranian anti-West sentiment. Eventually the Shah did return to power but of course only as a dictator/shill for the clerics. He didn't last long.

Then there was the the USS Vincennes shooting down of an Iranian flight over Iran airspace that killed 250 people. This event preceded the Hostage crisis by about six months.

Shaky regime? Yes, but there are reasons for the anti-West sentiment that pervades Iran. And not all of them are poorly formed.