The Consequences Of The 1953 Coup

The overthrowing of the Iranian government was deemed unsuccessful. The revolution helped Iranian’s break away from the relationship with the Savak Police. Who were known for being brutal and torture (Claire Fink, Iranian Revolution 1979), but still many of Iran’s citizens were brutally murdered during the riots. After the revolution the citizens could not agree on a government that would replace the monarch. This gave birth to urban radical Islam, which began

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

In January 1979, Iranians opposed to the Shah’s rule invaded the American embassy in Tehran and held a group of 52 American diplomats and other hostages for 444 days. The Shah left Iran and the victorious Ayatollah Khomeini returned that February. Of the approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis. The reputation of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the hostage taking was further enhanced with the failure of a hostage rescue attempt that cost lives. The Ayatollah Khomeini set forth several demands to be met prior to the release of the hostages. The US had options of their own; however, the risk to the hostages required the utmost consideration. In order to secure their freedom, outgoing

In the early 1950s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced out of Iran by leftist and Democratic forces and Mohammed Mossedeq was elected as Iran’s new leader (Bowden, 2006, p. 6). In 1953 with strong influence from the British intelligence the Central Intelligence Agency conducted operations that lead to the return of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the shah of Iran which many and in particular Khomeini and his followers holding the hostages believe was a coupe (BBC, 2009). The Shah created and used the SAVAK, secret police, to keep a strong hand on the people until the revolution in 1979(White, 2014, pp. 209). 16 years prior to the revolution in 1961, the Shah exiled the Ruhollah Khomeini, who was a master of Islam to Iraq (PBS, 2013a).

Britain originally pursued cooperation in planning the takeover from President Truman, but he refused. After President Eisenhower's election in 1953, the Britain approached Eisehower with the takeover idea. He agreed and instructed the CIA to assist in an operation against Iran's government. The operation consisted of bribing influential figures,

The oil lobby was not the only reason the United States got involved, however. During a meeting with top CIA and State Department officials in November 1952, shortly after Dwight D. Eisenhower won the election. M16 agent C. M. Woodhouse brought to their attention the threat of communist expansion in Iran. The United States, contending with the peak of Cold War tensions, viewed the combination of Iran’s long border with the Soviet Union, active Communist party, and the Mossadeq-led nationalist movement as a major threat. The new secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, and his brother, the new CIA director Allen Dulles, took the possibility of a communist takeover very seriously. Shortly after Eisenhower’s inauguration, the Dulles brothers agreed

Country that can elected a leader and is able to share power not easy to control, influence, and exploitation, because that society can make decision for themselves and will not except any negative influence from the outside. A powerful leader like Dr. Mossadegh was the obstacle for exploration of Iran from the exploitation from both outsider power and corrupted part of Iranian elite. Young Shah, who always claimed that wants best for Iran and Iranian, simply couldn’t understand what is the importance of Dr. Mossadegh, not only as a powerful leader, but also as the conclusion of Iranians movement for democracy. The act of overthrowing Dr. Mossadegh started soon, the coop under name “Operation Ajax” organized by CIA succeeded, and Iranian were throwing back to

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

Mossadegh enemies increasing in number (Kinzer, 2008). By 1952, the British had become distressed with the situation in Iran and therefore demanded the United States for a resolution. The United States president during this time, Dwight Eisenhower enlisted Kermit Roosevelt, the chief of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) near East and Africa division and grandson of former United States president Teddy Roosevelt. In a joint operation between Britain's secret intelligence agency and the United States’ central intelligence agency, known as Operation Ajax or the 1953 Iranian Coup D’état, Roosevelt was deployed to Iran with an approved budget of one million from the United States congress and ten million from the Rockefeller family (Bryne and Gasiorowski, 2017). Upon arrival, Roosevelt demanded to speak with Mohammad Reza Shah, however Reza Shah had already fled the country and taken refuge in Iraq (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Roosevelt began the operation by bribing the members of parliament of smaller political parties in order for them to denounce Mossadegh in parliament. He further bribed newspaper editors and journalists to plant anti-Mossadegh stories. He bribed military and police officers including upper and lower ranks. Lastly, he hired a gang to riot in the name of Mossadegh and then he hired another gang to beat up the first gang, in order to create an atmosphere of anarchy (Pilisuk and Rountree, 2015). General Zahidi replaced Dr. Mossadegh as Prime Minister and within three days of the coupe, the Shah returned back to Iran. Operation Ajax set the precedent that the United States is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that their multinational oil companies are secured. The aftermath of Operation Ajax adequately demonstrated that the United States solely got involved to assured royalties for themselves

From the 1953 CIA led overthrow of Iran 's prime minister to the present day increase in dialogue between Washington and Tehran leading to direct talks on Iraq 's security and an interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, there has been more than 60 years of complex and evolving relations between the United States and Iran. In 1953, British and US intelligence services executed Operation Ajax. Operation Ajax led to the ouster of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadeq. In 1954, the US and Britain would support and install Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran. Despite claims and evidence of human rights violations against his people and the use of the Iranian security services (SAVAK) to silence his critics, Pahlavi was often publically praised by and maintained strong relations with the US and many regional leaders. By 1979, the Iranian public’s discontent with Pahlavi had reached a critical point and the Shah would be force to

Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.

The 2009 Iranian presidential election and its aftermath is characterized by a strange power dynamic between Ayatollah Khamenei's and the people where Khamenei is constantly testing their reaction to his dictatorial action, seeing what he can get away with. After choosing the president with no regard for the votes and levying threats at anyone who protested, Khamanei listened to what the opposition has to say, allowing them to voice their opinion in many circumstances. This pattern in Khamenei's action seems to reoccur in the elections' aftermath, creating a cycle in which he carries out an outrageously repressive action, and then is attentive to the people dissent towards it. This constant pushing and pulling dynamic

According to released CIA documents, “On August 19, 1953, the coup swung into full effect as the CIA and British intelligence

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.

The post-coup era was a flourishing time for American-Iranian relations. It was not that the people of Iran were particularly fond of the US, but rather the Shah’s relationship with the US. His power was essentially granted to him by both the US and Britain, and as a result he was to do as they instructed, causing him to become the “American puppet.” The US propelled him into becoming a “domineering leader over the Iranian government and masses,” which was the opposite of Mossadegh. Such a regime warrants itself to the hatred garnered by people. The greatness of these times defined the reasoning behind the enormous amounts of animosity that was generated when the relations began to fray.