1. The CIA Coup:
Iran, 1953
Link Between the Cold WarLink Between the Cold War
and the War on Terrorismand the War on Terrorism

2. • “When Mossadegh
[moh-sah-dek] and Persia
started basic reforms, we
became alarmed, we
united with the British to
destroy him; we
succeeded; and ever
since, our name has not
been an honored one in
the Middle East.”
- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
US Response to Basic Reforms

3. US Intervention
• In 1953, the United
States government
along with the
British government
overthrew a
democratically
elected leader in
Iran .

4. Serious Repercussions
• This overthrow of
Iran's Prime Minister
Mohammad
Mossadegh had
serious repercussions
for the future of
Western relations in
the Middle East.

5. Self-Serving Motives
• The Western
motivations for
the overthrow of
the Mossadegh
government were
self-serving.

6. Western Objectives
• Four major objectives led to Western
intervention in the Iranian political system:
• To contain Communism and prevent Iran
from falling to Communism,
• To protect Western interests in Iranian oil,
• To reverse the nationalization of the oil
industry by the Iranian government, and
• To prevent a possible economic collapse
in Iran.

7. Iranian Cast of Characters
• These Iranian characters played a vital role in
the coup d'etat:
• The Shah of Iran,
Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi [pah-la-vee].
came to power in 1941.
According to the CIA,
his cooperation was
vital to the success of
the coup. However, he
had "shown himself to
be a man of
indecision."

8. • Mohammad Mossadegh
was an ardent nationalist
elected to the Majlis
(Iranian parliament) in
1944. When the Majlis
voted to seize control of
the British-owned and
operated Anglo-Iranian
Oil Company in 1951, he
was named as the new
prime minister.
Iranian Cast of Characters

9. Iranian Cast of Characters
• General Fazlollah
Zahedi, the son of a
wealthy landowner,
was elevated to the
rank of general in the
Iranian army at the age
of 25. He led the
military coup in 1953, in
cooperation with the
CIA, and succeeded
Mossadegh as prime
minister.

10. Iranian Cast of Characters
• Asadollah Rashidian and
his two brothers (Seyfollah
and Qodratollah) had
important contacts in
Iranian society (including
the armed forces, the
Majlis, and the press).
They helped the CIA
during the coup and
were a communication
link to the Shah after the
coup.

11. Iranian Cast of Characters
• Ayatollah Abd al-Qasem
Kashani was an anti-British
religious leader. His position
in Iranian society can be
compared to that of
Ayatollah Khomeini 25
years later. He accused
Mossadegh of being pro-
British and said, "If
Mossadegh yields [to the
British], his blood will flow...."

12. American Cast of Characters
• These Americans were key players in the
1953 Iranian coup:
• Kermit Roosevelt, the
grandson of Theodore
Roosevelt, was the
CIA agent in charge
of Operation Ajax
(the CIA name for the
coup).

13. American Cast of Characters
• Averell Harriman
served as ambassador
to both London and
Moscow. He had no
special knowledge of
Iran , although he had
visited there during
World War II and had
met the Shah.

14. American Cast of Characters
• John Foster Dulles was
Eisenhower's Secretary
of State. He was an
avid anti-communist,
and saw the Iranian
coup as a way to stop
the spread of Soviet
Communism. He was
also one of the pioneers
of brinkmanship.

15. American Cast of Characters
• Allen Dulles, John Foster's
brother, was the CIA
Director during the coup.
He was the first civilian
director of the CIA and just
as intent as his brother in
stopping the spread of
communism and liberating
those behind the Iron
Curtain.

16. Iranian Political System
• The Iranian political
system in 1953 was not
entirely democratic. The
Majlis (parliament) had
to share power with the
monarch. While some
members were elected
by the people, others
were appointed by the
Shah. In addition, the
Shah held the right to
dismiss the prime
minister.

17. Movement to Nationalize Oil Industry
• Starting in 1949, the
movement to nationalize
Iran 's oil industry grew.
Under the First Development
Plan, Iranian politicians
hoped to accelerate
economic growth by
incorporating the latest
technology. The finances
needed to implement the
plan would come from oil
revenues.

18. Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
• In November 1950, a Majlis
committee, headed by
Mossadegh, rejected a
draft agreement from the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(AIOC). The company had
offered the Iranian
government slightly
improved terms from their
previous contract, but
nowhere near the fifty-fifty
profits they anticipated.

19. Nationalization
• On March 15, 1951,
the Majlis, led by
Mossadegh, voted to
nationalize the oil
industry. The Shah
acquiesced to the
Majlis' pressure and
demonstrations in the
streets by naming
Mossadegh prime
minister in April.

20. Political Chaos
• As Mossadegh's power
and popularity grew, so
did political chaos. The
friction between the
Shah and the prime
minister was heightened
by Mossadegh's
unwillingness to change
his position on the oil
issue. This chaos led to
intervention by the
United States.

21. CIA Secret History
• The CIA’s secret history
of its covert operation
to overthrow Iran's
government in 1953
details how US and
British officials plotted
the military coup that
returned the shah of
Iran to power and
toppled Iran's elected
prime minister, an
ardent nationalist.

22. British Plan
• The document shows
that Britain, fearful of
Iran's plans to
nationalize its oil
industry, came up with
the idea for the coup
in 1952 and pressed
the United States to
mount a joint
operation to remove
the prime minister.

23. Handpicked Successor
• The CIA and SIS,
handpicked General
Fazlollah Zahedi to
succeed Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh
and covertly funneled $5
million to General Zahedi's
regime two days after the
coup prevailed.

24. Iranians Posed as Communists
• Iranians working for the
CIA and posing as
Communists harassed
religious leaders and
staged the bombing of
one cleric's home in a
campaign to turn the
country's Islamic
religious community
against Mossadegh's
government.

25. Operation in Jeopardy
• The shah's
cowardice nearly
killed the CIA
operation. Fearful
of risking his
throne, the Shah
repeatedly
refused to sign
CIA-written royal
decrees to
change the
government.

26. Intermediaries
• The agency arranged
for Princess Ashraf
Pahlevi, the shah's twin
sister, and General H.
Norman Schwarzkopf,
the father of the Desert
Storm commander, to
act as intermediaries.
Nevertheless, he fled
the country just before
the coup.

27. Mossadegh’s Trial
• After the coup, Mossadegh
was brought before a
military tribunal and
charged with treason. He
said “[my]... only crime is
that I nationalized the
Iranian oil industry and
removed from this land the
network of colonialism and
political and economic
influence of the greatest
empire on earth."

28. The Sentence
• However, his
defense was to no
avail. He was
sentenced to three
years in prison
followed by a
lifetime of house
arrest. When he died
in 1967, no national
funeral, ceremony,
or public expression
of mourning was
allowed.

29. US Motives
• What motivated the
United States to play a
hand in the overthrow of
Mossadegh? Why take,
an almost democratic
nation, and turn it over to
a power hungry autocrat,
such as Mohammad Reza
Shah?

30. Fear of Communism
• Iran itself was not an
immediate threat to a
superpower like the United
States. But Iran in the hands of
the Soviet Union, America 's
Cold War rival, was an
immediate threat. So the fear
of Communism was one of the
motives that drew America to
participate in Operation Ajax.

31. Control of Oil
• Control of Iranian oil was
another main factor
contributing to the Western
overthrow of Mossadegh's
government. Without oil from
the Middle East, the US would
have found it difficult to
achieve the impressive
economic growth it attained
in the postwar era. Nor could
it have sustained the military
forces needed for possible
confrontation with the Soviet
Union and its allies.

32. Economic Stability
• A military blockade, and
economic sanctions and
embargos placed on Iran,
brought the fragile economy
to almost total collapse. This
was not something that the
US desired. American
national security depended
upon a politically and
economically stable Iran, so
that Iran would not fall into
the hands of the Soviet
Union.

33. Consequences
• The 1953 overthrow of the democratically-
elected Mossadegh and his government set
off a series of unintended consequences.
It gave the Shah a
chance to become an
autocrat. His oppressive
rule led to the 1979 Iranian
Revolution, which
overthrew him and placed
Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini in power.

34. Carter’s Treatment of Shah
• After the Shah was
overthrown, the Carter
Administration allowed
Mohammad Reza Shah
to come to America for
medical treatment. This
led many Iranians to
suspect a conspiracy to
stage another coup.

35. Hostage Crisis
• This perceived threat
caused a frenzy
among Iranian
radicals who, with
their new leader's
blessing, stormed the
American embassy in
Tehran and took fifty-
two American
diplomats hostage for
444 days.

36. Support for Saddam Hussein
• The Hostage Crisis
changed the course
of American
diplomacy towards
Iran. It led America
to support Iraq in the
Iran-Iraq War, a
move that
consolidated the
dictatorship of
Saddam Hussein.

37. Inspired Terrorism
• In the 1980s, Iran's
theocratic government
turned the country into a
center for the
propagation of terrorism
abroad. It sponsored,
financed, and armed
such factions as
Hezbollah, Hamas, and
other Middle Eastern
terrorist groups engaged
in political kidnapping
and assassinations.

38. Provided Base for 9/11 Attacks
• Iranian leaders, with their
devotion to radical Islam,
allowed these
revolutionary leaders to
become heroes to
fanatics all over the world
and inspired the founders
of the Afghan Taliban,
which would eventually
give Osama bin-Laden a
base from which to
launch the September 11
terrorist attacks.

39. War on Terrorism
• This gave George W.
Bush an excuse to
invade Afghanistan and
Iraq, resulting in wars
that killed thousands of
Iraqi and Afghani
civilians and military
personal and Western
soldiers.

40. Cycle of Violence
• They continue to kill,
injure, and disrupt
the lives of innocent
people and fuel
hatred for Americans
in younger
generations of Middle
Eastern populations,
continuing the cycle.

41. Man’s Eternal Desire to Be Free
• "..the most powerful single force in the
world today is neither communism nor
capitalism, neither H-bomb nor the
guided missile. It is man's eternal desire
to be free and independent.“
-- Senator John F. Kennedy, July 2,1957

42. A Democratic Middle East
• “Had Mossadegh been left in power,
he would have built a democratic
Iran, thus paving the way for other
democracies to take root in the
Middle East. America's
shortsightedness reverberates today
in the disastrous state of the region.”
--Nosratollah Amini, former mayor of Tehran and attorney to Prime Minister Mossadegh