I’ll have more to say about the Israel-Iran conflict as it matures. But one question I always have is this:

Why do hyphenated Americans feel the need to use American resources to settle their ancient feuds?

It’s a question worth chewing on, because I don’t think regular Americans think about it enough.

However, while we gather more facts, it’s worth revisiting some recent history, because we, as a people, tend to forget as time marches on.

Every time the world panics about Iran—be it over missile launches, proxy militias, or uranium enrichment—it’s worth pausing.

How the hell did we get here?

The answer, as with most modern Middle Eastern chaos, can be traced back to a Cold War cocktail of arrogance, greed, and utter disregard for national sovereignty.

Let’s start with the wrecking crew: the CIA and MI6.

How Operation Ajax Torched Iran’s Freedom

In 1953, the Iranian people had a functioning democracy. It wasn’t perfect, but it was theirs. Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, a secular nationalist and constitutionalist, had the gall to do something unacceptable to the Anglo-American order: he nationalized Iranian oil.

More specifically, he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company—later known as British Petroleum. Britain threw a fit, then called Uncle Sam. The Eisenhower administration, stewing in Cold War paranoia, saw an opportunity. With the help of British intelligence, the CIA launched Operation Ajax.

The goal? Remove Mossadegh. Reinstall the Shah. Regain control over Iran’s oil. And crush any whiff of socialism before it could take root—even if it weren’t socialism.

The method? Classic cloak-and-dagger:

Bribing politicians. Paying protestors to stage riots. Colluding with clerics to stir up religious opposition. (Works every time, doesn’t it?) Spreading propaganda painting Mossadegh as a Soviet puppet.

The result?

Mossadegh was overthrown, arrested, and effectively disappeared. The Shah was restored with full U.S. backing and quickly became one of Washington’s favorite dictators. Cue two and a half decades of repression, torture (courtesy of SAVAK, his CIA-trained secret police), and American-backed “modernization” that alienated the rural poor and religious elites.

It worked—for a while.

Iran’s Revolution: Made in the USA

By 1979, the Shah’s contradictions caught up with him. He was a liberalizer and a tyrant, a modernizer who crushed dissent, a puppet pretending to be a king. The Iranian Revolution wasn’t just anti-Shah—it was anti-imperialist, anti-Western, anti-everything the CIA had stood for.

Enter Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, whom the Shah had exiled years earlier. His message? The Shah is a Western puppet. America is the Great Satan. Israel is its minion.

The 1953 coup is Exhibit A in Iran’s historical trauma.

If the CIA hadn’t toppled Mossadegh, there may never have been a theocracy in Iran. No Hezbollah. No proxy wars. No uranium enrichment programs buried in the desert. The Shah might’ve faded into history, and Iran might look a bit more like Turkey and a bit less like revolutionary Cuba with minarets.

Instead, we got four decades of hostility, regional proxy wars, and nuclear brinkmanship.

And for some extra sprinkles on this ice cream cone of disaster, get a load of this…

Enter Marc Rich, Profit Pirate

Just when you think the absurdity of international politics has reached its limit, enter stage left: Marc Rich.

Rich, a commodities trader who viewed laws the way arsonists viewed “No Smoking” signs, found the chaos of post-revolution Iran to be less a tragedy and more a trading opportunity. It didn’t matter that Iran had publicly sworn off relations with the Zionist state. It didn’t matter that America had imposed strict sanctions after the hostage crisis.

What mattered was oil. Iran had it. Israel needed it. Rich had the Rolodex, the risk appetite, and a Swiss address.

Long before Iran became an Islamist pariah, Rich got insanely wealthy using the Eilat–Ashkelon Pipeline—a secret conduit shuttling Iranian crude to Israel while bypassing the Suez Canal. This pipeline, built with the Shah’s blessing, stayed in business after the revolution, under a regime that publicly labeled Israel a “cancerous tumor.”

Just to make sure you get it: Yes, Marc Rich smuggled Iranian oil to and through Israel while the two countries were at each other’s throats.

I couldn’t make that up if I tried.

Again, while Iranian clerics led chants of “Death to Israel” in Tehran, tankers full of Iranian oil quietly flowed to Israeli ports, brokered by a man indicted by the United States for sanctions violations and tax evasion.

Everyone Was Lying—And Earning

Let’s break it down.

Iran publicly claimed it had severed all ties with Israel, but privately needed the cash. Israel condemned the Islamic Republic as a genocidal regime, but quietly bought its oil. Marc Rich got rich in the middle, greasing palms, bending laws, and pioneering the spot market to obfuscate the origins of the oil.

Rich made billions.

Iran got hard currency.

Israel got fuel.

And America? Well, DC got punked.

Not only did Rich undermine its sanctions regime, but he also became a global poster child for why multinational laws are a polite fiction in the face of profit. He eventually fled to Switzerland, avoided prison, and got a pardon from Bill Clinton on his last day in office—thanks to some well-timed donations and lobbying from people like Ehud Barak and Denise Rich, his ex-wife. The pardon gave Rudy Giuliani, who was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983 to 1989, a near coronary.

If you want to read about the case in full, I highly recommend The King of Oil by Daniel Ammann. It reads better than a Bond novel. Not only is it one of my favorite books, but it’s one of my wife’s favorite books!

Another fun fact: Marc Rich & Co. was renamed Glencore and remains the dominant force in the global commodities market.

When Spies Make the Mess, Pirates Clean Up

It’s tempting to view the CIA as a grand chessmaster, pulling strings behind the scenes. But the truth is, they’re often just lighting matches in oil fields.

The Mossadegh coup was meant to preserve Western access to oil and contain communism. Instead, it created a theocracy and a regional antagonist. The lesson? Intervening in other nations’ democratic processes for short-term gain tends to backfire spectacularly. Jim Grant’s Office of Unintended Consequences needs to be opened.

For every nation broken by geopolitics, there’s always a Marc Rich waiting in the wings. Someone with no allegiance but to arbitrage. Someone who thrives on black markets, shady regimes, and embargo loopholes. Someone who understands that political chaos isn’t a bug—it’s a feature.

The Real Takeaway

Why does any of this matter in 2025?

Because the global oil market—and, frankly, every commodity market—is still built on these same foundations of manipulation, backchannel deals, and geopolitical sleight-of-hand.

Sanctions? Arbitrage opportunity.

Conflict? Price volatility.

Political chaos? Perfect cover for off-book profits.

Iran is back in the headlines, this time for getting hit by Israeli jets in Operation Rising Lion. Western leaders call for “stability.” Investors eye oil prices nervously. And somewhere, in a Swiss chalet or a Singapore boardroom, the modern-day Marc Riches are gaming out how to trade the bloodshed.

And honestly… ruthlessly… so should you. Never in a sanctions-busting, illegal way. Only in a completely legal way. Just trade what this crazy market gives you to protect your family’s wealth.

As I’ve said many times before, you can’t save the world, but you can save yourself.

The game hasn’t changed—just the players. Be a player, and play the game well.

Wrap Up

The West toppled a democratic government in 1953 to secure cheaper oil. That choice led to revolution, repression, terrorism, and nuclear brinkmanship.

Meanwhile, Marc Rich made sure that even enemies could still do business.

So the next time you hear a State Department spokesperson talk about promoting democracy, or a Treasury official touting airtight sanctions, remember:

Mossadegh died under house arrest.

The Shah fled with U.S. backing.

Khomeini declared war on the West.

Marc Rich bought a bigger Swiss chalet.

Be Marc Rich, albeit a squeaky clean version of him.