Historical foreign interventions forged an Iranian victimhood that shapes distrust

Evidence

Two aspects of Iranian nationalism and its vicissitudes are especially noteworthy. The first is a pervasive belief on the part of many Iranians that their country’s misfortunes and perils have all been the results of the ill intents and machinations of foreign powers. … These historical memories have led to farfetched conspiracy theories (see Ashraf 1992; Abrahamian 1993) and a sense of victimhood that makes Iranians overly suspicious and unforgiving in their perceptions and dealings with foreign powers. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1744

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s core research on threat-hardened beliefs: a manufactured/external-enemy narrative built on real historical grievances produces conspiracy-prone, resistant dispositions. — connects to: Century-old extraterritorial capitulations explain Iranian hostility the US media never mentioned — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the…, 259; Cultural explanations of terrorism erase political and historical differences among perpetrators — Sherene Razack, Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims…, 125; Culturalizing explanations of Muslim inequality blame victims while masking structural causes. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 173

Broader Connections

• Century-old extraterritorial capitulations explain Iranian hostility the US media never mentioned #expands (0.85) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 259
• Culturalizing explanations of Muslim inequality blame victims while masking structural causes. #corroborates (0.80) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 173
• Cultural explanations of terrorism erase political and historical differences among perpetrators #corroborates (0.75) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 125