Weaving conspiracy theories is a kind of art form in parts of the Middle East, and the Iranians are the undisputed masters. So pervasive is conspiracy theorizing in Iran that the “Encyclopaedia Iranica,” a scholarly guide to the country’s history and culture, contains a long and learned article documenting the many influential writers who attribute “the course of Persian history and politics to the machinations of hostile foreign powers and secret organizations.”
In their own style, Western writers, too, display a pronounced tendency to depict foreign decision-making as the main driver of modern Iran’s political history. Thus the Eurocentrism of Westerners and the conspiracy theorizing of Iranians work in parallel to produce histories that relegate Iranian leaders to bit parts in their own national drama.
