Is Iran trying to humiliate President Donald Trump the way it humiliated President Jimmy Carter in 1980?
The Iranian regime’s hatred of Carter grew from the belief that the United States had protected and empowered Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, whose monarchy was overthrown during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Although Iran’s revolutionaries had already forced the Shah from power, they did not trust Washington to accept that outcome. Their suspicion was rooted in 1953, when a CIA-backed coup overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and cemented the Shah’s rule for more than 25 years. The Associated Press reported that the CIA has since officially described the 1953 coup it backed in Iran as undemocratic.
That history shaped how Iranian revolutionaries viewed Carter’s decision to allow the Shah into the United States for medical treatment in October 1979. To them, the move looked less like a humanitarian act and more like a warning that the United States might again interfere in Iran’s government.
On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, citing the Shah’s entry into the United States as a justification, according to the National Archives. The takeover began the Iran hostage crisis: 66 Americans were initially taken hostage, 52 remained captive for 444 days.
In a recent social media post, Paul Heroux, the former mayor of Attleboro and current Bristol County sheriff, said the hostage crisis became a campaign issue in 1980 and contributed significantly to Carter’s failed reelection bid. In what Heroux described as a final show of disdain for Carter, Iran released the remaining hostages on Jan. 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated president.
“Iran has a grand strategy — preservation of the regime,” Heroux wrote. “But that’s not their only strategy.”
Heroux said that Iran may now be trying to create a similar political burden for Trump, one that will not be reflected in a failed reelection bid because he is a lame-duck president, but could significantly impact his legacy and the outcome of the midterms.
“It appears that Iran is trying to replicate its 1980 strategy in 2026,” Heroux said. “If Iran can keep Trump’s war of choice going, Iran knows the war keeps inflation high in the U.S. They know the war keeps the cost of oil high. The war keeps the cost of gas and food high.”
Heroux also noted that a prolonged war could weaken the United States internationally, especially if more countries begin looking to China as a more stable alternative to the U.S. and to the renminbi as an alternative to the dollar, which remains the world’s dominant reserve currency.
He said Iran may also be looking toward the 2026 midterm elections, betting that drawn-out negotiations and continued conflict could hurt Republicans and Democrats who support the war.
