Operation Ajax

In early 1951, the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry by Mosaddegh was the trigger for the United Kingdom to begin discussion with the United States to overthrow Mosaddegh and return the power to the shah. When the coup attempt was thwarted, the CIA decided to call off continuing with the operation because they did not want it to get traced back to the United States. However, Kermit Roosevelt believed that the United States should not be done interfering with Iran, and

All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer details the 1953 American-orchestrated coup in Iran. Iran was under British economic control, but as it modernized, Iranians began fighting for their own control. Their fledgling democracy was working to modernize, until the UK and the US decided to interfere to protect Britain’s colonial holdings from Soviet influence. Because the US was not interested in protecting a British business, British politicians emphasized the threat the USSR held to Iran, leading to Americans inserting themselves into a nation’s politics in which they had no place. They successfully orchestrated a coup, however, the negative, long-term, anti-Western results overwhelm any positive effect. All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer paints a picture of the results of action without adequate attention to future results.

Looking back to 1953, the nation was at a much different place. However, the decisions that were made in 1953 greatly impacted the nation’s involvement in terrorism today. Stephen Kinzer, author of All The Shah’s Men, addresses how the United States’ role in the 1953 CIA coup in Iran leads up to modern terrorism that can be seen in society currently. Additionally, Kinzer is a very credible source considering he has worked in more than fifty countries and is an award-winning foreign journalist. Furthermore, Kinzer has been the New York Times bureau chief in multiple different countries; some being Berlin, Managua, Nicaragua, and Istanbul. With that being said, Kinzer has a vast amount of knowledge regarding the nation’s role in foreign affairs. According to Kinzer, the 1953 CIA coup in Iran politically destabilized the nation, led to the rise of modern terrorism, and immensely affected the CIA’s reputation. This paper examines Kinzer’s arguments with the assessment that the nation involving itself in foreign affairs undeniably leads to unintended consequences.

Along with Finland and Norway, they suffered and were mistreated by one of the Alliances in the war. When American hesitated at one point in the war, there began a group of Anti-Americanism which led to a Islamic Revolution and overthrow the Shah. The Persian Empire was crushed in the changes that came about at the end of the war, along with the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire. Later, the USSR was established, and they were coming towards Iran’s borders! Colonel Rhan saw this coming and sought power, so he overthrew the Iranian government. This allowed USSR to come in and take over Iranian soil. Rhan, who later names himself Shaw, starts launching new industries and modernizations. He overthrew the Priests and Judges of Iran, and he started his own idea of rule. Iran began to be threatened by different events occurring in the war. They relied on Germany, and their connections were about to be obliterated by the USSR. They had to turn to Great Britain. They made a deal, and Britain sent troops to defend the oil fields of Iran from USSR. The Soviets made an army of 200,000 men and tanks, trying to intimidate Iran, which Germany noted happily. The Germans tried to lure in Iran to a treaty. The pressure put on Iran by the Soviets intensified, and Great Britain considered taking the oil fields for themselves, breaking their promise of protection. Shaw stubbornly refused handing over the oil fields. Time went by and a new Prime Minister came to power over Iran, Nuri as Said. Treaties were made and broken and Britain turned on Iran. They made two plans. One was to attack only the oil fields, controlling them. Secondly, they would take over all military strong areas. Desperately, the Iranian government tried to buy time! The invasion was postponed many times, and finally both sides prepared and attacked. The Allies declared war on the Iranian Prime Minister. War ships,

In the novel All The Shah’s Men we are introduced to Iran, and the many struggles and hardships associated with the history of this troubled country. The Iranian coup is discussed in depth throughout the novel, and whether the Untied States made the right decision to enter into Iran and provide assistance with the British. If I were to travel back to 1952 and take a position in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for the sole purpose of examining the American Foreign Intelligence, I would have to conclude that the United States should have examined their options more thoroughly, and decided not to intervene with Iran and Mossadegh. I have taken this position after great analysis, which is something that Eisenhower and his staff never

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

In the novel All The Shah's Men we are introduced to Iran, and the many struggles and hardships associated with the history of this troubled country. The Iranian coup is discussed in depth throughout the novel, and whether the Untied States made the right decision to enter into Iran and provide assistance with the British. If I were to travel back to 1952 and take a position in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for the sole purpose of examining the American Foreign Intelligence, I would have to conclude that the United States should have examined their options more thoroughly, and decided not to intervene with Iran and Mossadegh. I have taken this position after great analysis, which is something that Eisenhower and his staff never

The American government is known to promote democratic values throughout the world. Though the ideals America was fighting for during the Cold War, the government still managed to participate in the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh threatened to nationalize Iran’s oil in 1951 and later gained the support of the Iranian government. The British companies had many investments in Iranian oil. It is with the approval of nationalization that the economies of both British and Iran were ultimately harmed. The British government requested the help of the US so that they could perform a coup to overthrow Mossadegh. With suspicions of Mossadegh supporting communism, and being supported by the Tudeh Party, the United States government was willing to sacrifice their democratic ideologies and credibility in the region for the insurance of an anti-communist leader. This would prove to cause problems that still resonate in today’s political and military negotiations in this region.

The importance of democracy took a backseat to economics and national pride when the CIA orchestrated an elaborate coup to overthrow the government of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq. In the beginning of the Cold War, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddeq, passed the oil nationalization agreement, which nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and its holdings in Iran. The CIA, with assistance of MI6, planned, funded and implemented Operation TPAJAX, a covert CIA operation. CIA collaborated with Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq and the elected government of Iran. The TPAJAX plan consisted of two components a political and a military element. The political component of TPAJAX created an artificial campaign of destabilization to accumulate, in a sanctuary, by clergy-led crowds inside the Majles enceinte where a censor motion and bribing of deputies would cause the fall of Mosaddeq through parliamentary procedures. The military component of TPAJAX was only a contingency to maintain the desired outcome against resistance by Tudeh or Mosaddeq supporters. The CIA orchestrated the 1953 Coup of Iran to overthrow Mosaddeq; primarily to maintain existing western control of Iranian oil, thus preventing the collapse of Great Britain’s economic system and alleviating the risk of an Iranian government strongly influenced by the Soviet Union.

The Pahlavi dynasty in Iran lasted from 1925-1979. In 1925 Reza Shah Pahlavi was appointed and reined until 1941 when his son Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi succeeded him after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was considered pro – Western, who worked closely with many U.S. Presidential administrations. In 1951 the European educated Mohammed Mosadegh, Prime Minister of Iran wanted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry. This political, economic and ideological conflict resulted in Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi being forced into exile for a short period of time. Mosadegh’ s policies would have adversely affected the British and American governments who had previously been in control of Iran’s oil. Therefore the Intelligence

The first main covert operation within the middle east that the US was involved in was operation Ajax in Iran in 1953. The CIA and MI6 agents organized a coup de tat to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq in order to replace him with pro-American autocrat Shah Mohammed Pehalvi. The Shah ruled Iran until the 1979 Islamic revolution which ousted him. US activities within Iran were viewed and resented by muslims as “naked imperialism.” Although the CIA spent decades either evading questions on their involvement and denying their involvement in operation Ajax, in August 2013 the CIA released declassified documents that confirmed their involvement in the

The U.S. involvement in revoking democratically elected president of Iran Mohammed Mossadeq, restoring the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power. Mossadeq wanted to nationalize the oil industry while Shah promoted a privatized system. Nationalization would allow Iran, rather than Great Britain, to profit from Iran's natural resource. As a result, the British urged the U.S. to aid the takeover plot.

This paper will begin by providing background information on the Iranian Hostage Crises, then shifts to the different viewpoints taken by the divisions of the executive branch. This will provide the different policy options and supporting actors. The final part of the paper will focus on the foreign policy outcome.

In the summer of 1953, Dulles recommended that the CIA take on Iran as a new target for operations. According to historian James Srodes, Mossadeq was backed by the Tudeh Party, which was a radical Communist Party that was feared to have alliances with the Soviet Union. In the context of the Cold War, it is well-known that Communism, particularly the spread of Communism in Eastern Europe, was one of the main concerns of the United States during this time. C.M. Woodhouse, the British intelligence officer for Iran, recognized this and knew that the Americans would be more likely to work with the British in the effort of restoring the position of the AIOC if they looked at it as a necessity for containing Communism. The U.S. government was already increasingly concerned at the apparent involvement of communists in the nationalization movement. Working together, the United States and Great Britain created operation AJAX with the aim of causing the fall of the Mossadeq government and reestablishing the prestige and power of the Shah, as well as elevating the strength of the Shah. They also planned on appointing General Fazlollah Zahedi as the new prime minister of Iran. Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, became one of the coverts to the operation. In July of 1953 he secretly arrived in Teheran, where he

Mossadeq wanted to nationalize the British controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to remove the symbol of foreign influence over Iranian affairs and to maximize profits. The British rejected the nationalization and claimed that Mossadeq was part of the pro-Iranian Soviet communist party. But due to the Cold War the United States feared that Iran may fall into the Soviets arms which caused the CIA to organize a Coup forcing Mossadeq to resign and re-install the shah. Hence the United States outstared a legitimate government.