#Iran-US relations#60 Minutes coverage#Iranian Revolution#Nuclear program#Middle East conflict#Shah of Iran#Ayatollah Khomeini#Regional war
📌 Key Takeaways
US and Israel launched major attack on Iran in February 2026
60 Minutes has documented Iran for nearly five decades
The Shah's US-supported regime faced growing opposition
The 1979 Iranian Revolution transformed Iran into an Islamic Republic
Nuclear programs have been a point of contention for decades
📖 Full Retelling
The United States and Israel launched a sweeping attack on Iran on Saturday, February 27, 2026, raising the risk of a wider regional war, in response to Iran's ballistic missile launches toward Israel following weeks of warnings from President Trump about Tehran's nuclear program and crackdown on protesters. In announcing the strikes, President Trump pledged to crush Iran's military forces, dismantle its nuclear program, and ultimately force a change in its leadership by appealing to the Iranian people to 'take over your government.' As tensions escalate, 60 Minutes is revisiting its nearly five decades of coverage on Iran to help viewers understand the historical context and revolutionary powers that shaped the current conflict. From Mike Wallace's groundbreaking interviews with Ayatollah Khomeini just days after the Iranian Hostage Crisis began to conversations with Iranian presidents across different eras, the news program has documented the complex relationship between Iran and the West. The archive reveals how US foreign policy toward Iran has evolved from supporting the Shah to confronting an Islamic Republic, highlighting persistent issues like nuclear ambitions and regional influence that continue to define the current crisis. 60 Minutes' coverage began in 1974 when correspondent Mike Wallace traveled to Tehran to interview Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi amid the Arab oil embargo, capturing the monarch's candid responses about oil profits and corruption. Subsequent reports documented the growing unrest against the Shah's regime, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and the hostage crisis at the US Embassy, providing valuable context for understanding the deep-seated animosity between the two nations. Later interviews with Iranian leaders like Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued to explore the nuclear program debate and Iran's place in the Middle East, demonstrating how the issues that led to the current conflict have been developing for generations.
🏷️ Themes
Geopolitical conflict, Historical relations, Nuclear proliferation, Media coverage
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian cleric, politician, political theorist and revolutionary who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran and served as its first supreme leader from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the main leader of the Islamic Revolution, which over...
This is a list of modern conflicts ensuing in the geographic and political region known as the Middle East. The "Middle East" is traditionally defined as the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), Levant, and Egypt and neighboring areas of Arabia, Anatolia and Iran. It currently encompasses the area from E...
The monarchs of Iran, including three queens regnant, ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 8th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian monarch is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty (c. 727–550 BC) or Cy...
The Iranian Revolution or the Islamic Revolution was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the monarchical government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi wa...
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
60 Minutes Overtime 60 Minutes Archive: Coverage of Iran By Brit McCandless Farmer Updated on: February 28, 2026 / 6:18 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The United States and Israel on Saturday launched a sweeping attack on Iran, raising the risk of a wider regional war. In announcing the strikes, President Trump pledged to crush Iran's military forces, to dismantle its nuclear program, and ultimately to force a change in its leadership by appealing to the Iranian people to "take over your government." The strikes come after weeks of warnings from President Trump, pressing Tehran to accept a new agreement to curb its nuclear program, along with earlier threats connected to the Iranian government's forceful crackdown on protesters in January. In response, Iran launched multiple waves of ballistic missiles toward Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait — each home to U.S. military bases — reported being targeted, as did Jordan. To understand how Iran's revolutionary powers came to be and help explain the current-day conflict, 60 Minutes is revisiting its decades-long coverage of Iran. From Mike Wallace's memorable interview with Ayatollah Khomeini just days after the Iranian Hostage Crisis began, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telling Scott Pelley he was "like a CIA investigator," and President Ebrahim Raisi telling Lesley Stahl that making promises with the U.S. was "meaningless," here are some of the highlights of 60 Minutes' reporting from Iran. 1974: Oil and the Shah of Iran In early 1974, the Arab oil embargo had been causing gas shortages across the U.S. for months. Arab and Iranian oil producers had cut exports to countries that supported Israel in its 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, and the embargo was driving up prices and stretching lines of cars waiting to fill up at gas stations. In February 1974, 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace traveled to Tehran to film his first interview with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In a candid conve...
