Folly of Attacking Iran Video

In 1953, the United States violently intervened in Iran by ousting the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh and installing the shah's military regime. This backfired spectacularly in 1979 when religious militants gained power through a popular revolution and 52 U.S. diplomats were taken hostage.

Veteran New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer, retired General Robert Gard (Senior Military Fellow, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation), Iranian-American scholar Trita Parsi (President, National Iranian American Council), and USA Today reporter Barbara Slavin (also a Randolph Jennings Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace) explain the need for the United States today to use diplomacy instead of force in its relationship with Iran.