Conjuring an Enemy: US Discourse and Policy on Iran, 1979–88

Abstract

This study traces the development of US policy toward and narrative on Iran in the first decade after the 1978–79 Iranian revolution. It examines how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) were portrayed in the mainstream English-language (primarily American) news media, based on an analysis of nearly 1,200 reports. It argues that the narrative constructed by policy makers and the press significantly impacted US-Iran relations, and this established patterns of discourse and action that have persisted to this day. This process helped solidify the official and popular conception of Iran as a dangerous threat antithetical to US values and interests, necessitating a policy of enmity and confrontation.