Mohammad Mahdi Abbasi, Researcher in the field of American Studies
In international politics, trust is often a scarce commodity; yet when it comes to the US, it is not merely scarce, it is fundamentally dangerous. While such a claim may initially seem exaggerated, an examination of Washington’s conduct toward its allies over recent decades reveals it to be entirely consistent with historical precedent. At every critical juncture, the US invariably prioritizes its own interests, aligning itself with whichever party most effectively serves its immediate strategic needs. Perhaps this is the very reason behind the saying: “To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be its friend is fatal.” The humiliation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, coupled with the current administration’s behavior toward Ukraine, stands as a stark testament to this reality. A nation that placed its faith in American assurances now sees nearly eighteen percent of its territory lost. Yet Ukraine is neither the first nor the last ally of the US to be sacrificed after placing its trust in Washington.
Afghanistan: The last-minute betrayal of an ally
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 provides yet another example of Washington abandoning its partners. Building on the agreement earlier signed by the Trump administration in Doha, the Biden administration opted to bring an end to two decades of American presence in the country. Joe Biden openly stated that ensuring Afghanistan’s internal security was not America’s responsibility and that he no longer sought to bear the costs of involvement there.
Consequently, Bagram Air Base was evacuated just as the forces opposing the Afghan government—the very government backed by the US—reached the outskirts of Kabul. This resulted in tense scenes of Afghans running after a departing American plane on the airport runway. Ashraf Ghani, caught between trying to restore his country’s collapsing security order and relying once more on Washington, staked what he had left on US support. Only months before the fall of Kabul, he traveled to the US seeking a solution to counter the Taliban’s advance. Yet he was met with indifference. No American official went to receive him at the airport.
Months after the fall of Kabul, in his first media interview with Gen. Nick Carter (former Chief of the Defense Staff of the British Army) on BBC Radio 4, Ghani admitted that his only mistake as the president of Afghanistan was trusting the US and its international allies. Around the same time, a prominent Pakistani writer wrote in The Washington Post that the United States proved in a single night that it can reshape the fate of its allies based on its domestic political calendar. Yet, the Afghans and Ghani’s government are far from alone in this bitter fellowship. Nearly every nation that has relied on US support has, sooner or later, faced a similar experience.
Theft from allies in a crisis
Another example is the conduct of the US during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when competition over medical supplies—such as masks, testing kits, and ventilators—was extremely intense, the Americans even resorted to seizing masks from their own allies. A shipment containing several thousand N95 masks bound for Germany was diverted to the US. At the time, the Interior Minister for the state of Berlin reacted to this move by the US government, saying: “Even in times of a global crisis, there should be no use of such Wild West methods. This is no way to treat trans-Atlantic partners. This is an act of modern piracy.”
Additionally, Barbados, a small and economically vulnerable country, had purchased 20 ventilators during the early months of the outbreak, only to have the US seize that shipment as well.
The AUKUS pact: A stab in the back of a European ally
Nevertheless, perhaps nothing in recent years has revealed the true nature of this American pattern of behavior as clearly as the AUKUS pact. For years, Australia had a massive contract with France for the construction of non-nuclear submarines. But suddenly, in 2021, it was announced that Canberra had entered a new agreement with the US and the UK to receive submarines equipped with nuclear-propulsion technology. This meant the complete cancellation of the contract with France. Paris recalled its ambassador from Washington in protest, with the French Foreign Minister declaring: “This was a stab in the back.”
Canada and India: Strategic partners sacrificed for Washington’s interests
In recent months, the behavior of the US toward two of its other partners—Canada and India—has provided important examples of this same pattern. During Donald Trump’s second term, Washington once again imposed a new wave of tariffs and trade pressures on partners that had long been among America’s closest friends.
India had for years been described as a “strategic partner” of the US, yet Washington pressured New Delhi to halt its purchase of Russian oil while simultaneously threatening trade restrictions—an approach the Modi government viewed as direct interference in India’s policies.
Canada, despite its extensive economic ties and shared border, was also not spared from the White House’s abrupt tariff fluctuations. For a country that shares thousands of kilometers of border and maintains its largest trade relationship with the US, these developments were a major shock. Mark Carney, Canada’s current prime minister, explicitly warned in a recent speech: “The US is no longer a reliable partner.”
Washington turning its back on a longtime ally
These stories, of course, have a longer history. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah who fled Iran, had been one of Washington’s closest allies during the Cold War. But in the months following the Islamic Revolution, when his illness worsened and he required medical treatment in the US, the Americans refused to allow his entry except for a brief period. Jimmy Carter, the US president at the time, was one of the main opponents of admitting the Shah, and even later, regarding the brief decision to let Mohammad Reza enter for medical reasons, he said: “I’ve been told that the Shah was desperately ill, at the point of death, and that New York was the only medical facility that was capable of possibly saving his life.”
In the end, all these bitter experiences in the international system point to one conclusion: friendship with Washington remains useful only as long as it remains cost-free for the US. In reality, in today’s world, being aligned with Washington is itself a security risk. Any country that seeks to build its stability, security, and national prosperity on trust in the US must be prepared for the day the rug is pulled out from under its feet.
This is exactly what the Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out in his recent remarks, stating: “Americans even betray their own friends, that is, those who count themselves as America’s allies are also betrayed. They support the criminal Zionist gang ruling over Palestine. For the sake of oil and underground resources, they are ready to ignite war anywhere in the world, and today this war-mongering has reached Latin America as well. [So,] such a government is certainly not worthy for a republic, a government like the Islamic Republic, to seek relations or cooperation with.”
The experiences of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Europe, Canada, India, and even pre-Revolution Iran are all parts of a larger story: Washington has never hesitated to make others pay the price for trusting it.
(The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Khamenei.ir.)
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