Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an article originally published by the National Association of Scholars on March 3, 2026. It is crossposted here with permission.

The American bombing of Iran and killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dominated headlines this week—and for good reason. While Americans speculate about what will happen to the price of fuel, what the strike means for our national security, and how this will affect foreign relationships, we wonder what American higher education will make of war with Iran.  

Ian Oxnevad, the Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at NAS, recently made the bold assertion in an article for Minding the Campus that American foreign policy today requires the Middle East to thwart Euroasian hegemony in the form of China. He also pondered how universities would respond to a post-Ayatollah Iran, writing at a time when military action was still only a threat. 

Oxnevad’s publication was apparently ahead of its time.

In his article, Oxnevad points to the historical significance of the American-backed—but Iranian-led—coup that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 and the subsequent rise of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, contrasting it with modern-day support for Tehran on campuses. Iran was part of the Nixon Doctrine’s “Twin Pillar” strategy to ward against Communism in the Middle East. The “Shah was surprisingly liberal, though anti-Shah protesters in the 1970s were unwilling to grant the monarchy any credit,” said Oxevad. Even on American college and university campuses, revolution-minded students protested against the Shah. Specifically, protests led by the Iranian Student Association were heralded by shouts of “Shah is a US Puppet,” “Down with the Shah,” and “Shah is a fascist butcher!,” and more…

Read the full article here.