Sanctions, War, and Colonial Energy Extraction: How Iran’s GDP Collapse Exposes Global Fossil Fuel Dependence and Geopolitical Exploitation
Original framing: “How oil, gas losses have shrunk Iran’s GDP by 10 percent during war” — Al Jazeera
The current crisis is a direct descendant of the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh, who had nationalized the oil industry to reclaim sovereignty over Iran’s resources. This coup established a pattern of foreign interference that continues today, where sanctions and military threats are used to punish Iran for daring to assert control over its own wealth. Historical parallels can be drawn with the destabilization of other resource-rich nations, such as Libya under Gaddafi or Venezuela under Chávez, where Western powers have repeatedly intervened to protect corporate and geopolitical interests. The repetition of these patterns suggests a deliberate strategy to prevent any nation from achieving true energy independence.