Mailbag: Congress is trying to sabotage a good deal with Iran

Clearly the majority of the members of Congress have forgotten why Iranians hate America. The current Iranian leadership was alive when the democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown on Aug. 19, 1953.

The overthrow was orchestrated by the United Kingdom and the United States because Mossadegh had sought to audit the books of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., a British corporation (now BP), and to change the terms of the company’s access to Iranian petroleum reserves.

Following the coup in 1953, a government was formed under Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi that allowed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, to rule the country more firmly as monarch. He relied heavily on U.S. support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.

Because of our actions in the early ‘50s, the senior members of the Iranian government, most having lived through this period, have every reason to hate us and not trust us.

The recent agreement with Iran, negotiated by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, is a small step toward normalizing relations with the Iranians and bringing peace to the area. Unfortunately, many members of Congress are doing everything possible to take us to war with Iran by sabotaging the Iranian nuclear deal. That must stop.

I urge support for the deal and an end to efforts to start yet another costly war in the Middle East.

Joanna Clark

San Juan Capistrano

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Official’s opposition to gay marriage

I’m so sick of hearing our elected officials degrade the people they are serving. I’m talking about Newport Councilman Scott Peotter.

As an elected public servant, he is there to serve all the people. He has every right to his religious beliefs, as we all do, but not when it affects people he is supposed to serve. This country was founded on separation of church and state. We should keep it that way.

Rick Ingold

Newport Beach

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