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Posted on 03/25/2026 7:54:14 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
August 19, 1953: The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran.
Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
Mosaddeq came to prominence in Iran in 1951 when he was appointed premier. A fierce nationalist, Mosaddeq immediately began attacks on British oil companies operating in his country, calling for expropriation and nationalization of the oil fields. His actions brought him into conflict with the pro-Western elites of Iran and the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi. Indeed, the Shah dismissed Mossadeq in mid-1952, but massive public riots condemning the action forced the Shah to reinstate Mossadeq a short time later. U.S. officials watched events in Iran with growing suspicion. British intelligence sources, working with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), came to the conclusion that Mossadeq had communist leanings and would move Iran into the Soviet orbit if allowed to stay in power.
Working with Shah, the CIA and British intelligence began to engineer a plot to overthrow Mossadeq. The Iranian premier, however, got wind of the plan and called his supporters to take to the streets in protest. At this point, the Shah left the country for “medical reasons.” While British intelligence backed away from the debacle, the CIA continued its covert operations in Iran. Working with pro-Shah forces and, most importantly, the Iranian military, the CIA cajoled, threatened, and bribed its way into influence and helped to organize another coup attempt against Mossadeq. On August 19, 1953, the military, backed by street protests organized and financed by the CIA, overthrew Mossadeq. The Shah quickly returned to take power and, as thanks for the American help, signed over 40 percent of Iran’s oil fields to U.S. companies.
Mossadeq was arrested, served three years in prison, and died under house arrest in 1967. The Shah became one of America’s most trusted Cold War allies, and U.S. economic and military aid poured into Iran during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In 1978, however, anti-Shah and anti-American protests broke out in Iran and the Shah was toppled from power in 1979. Militants seized the U.S. embassy and held the American staff hostage until January 1981. Nationalism, not communism, proved to be the most serious threat to U.S. power in Iran.
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Everything is all out fault.
Mossaddeq instituted a coup against the Shah which failed. The Shah was the primary leader, not the Prime Minister.
Mossaddeq was dismissed as Prime Minister by the Shah - rather than yield to constitutional order, Mossadeq tried to overthrow the Shah, resulting in the chaos that followed, and the reclaiming of government power to be solely with the Crown. The Iranian Military came to their commander-in-chief’s aide, and the CIA and British intelligence also back them.
Mossaddeq halted the counting of votes to stay in power when it was clear his party was heading for a defeat, and seated only a fraction of the parliamentary seats to maintain power. Calling that “democratically elected” is quite a stretch. He engaged in two coups - against parliament and the system of elections to stay in power, then tried to overthrow the system of government by refusing to leave office when dismissed and tried to overthrow the Head of State.
But the resistance to these events is what history calls “the coup of 1953.”
Mossadeq was a”fierce nationalist” like Fidel Castro was a fierce nationalist. Right up until they seized power. Then they dropped the mask of ‘nationalism’ to reveal the ugly face of communism.
In this case, it is. The Brits wanted us to intervene in Iran so the CIA got involved.
We would have been better off if we weren't friends with the Brits in the 20th Century.
No. The problem is Islam. It has been a curse upon the World for a long long time.
Funny—in 1979 the Shah was overthrown with the assistance of the CIA.
The History channel are a bunch of commies. Under Iran’s Constitution, at that time, the Shah had every right to dismiss the premier, which he did. It was Mossadeq and his supporters who took to the streets and tried to overthrow the government, not the other way around. This so-called “History” portrayal is disgraceful.
from the FRchives:
Mossaddeq planned to nationalize the country’s oil business and break away from Britain who had been ripping Iran off for years. The British wanted a coup, but couldn’t conduct one on their own, so they whined to the CIA, who happily helped Britain continue to run the oil business in Iran.
yup. they should have left him take over and turn the country communist/pro Russia.
Exactly. That is what "overthrew democracy" - had he submitted to constitutional order and also held valid elections, the chaos that ensued and resulting ultimately with the Crown reclaiming power for itself would almost certainly not have occurred. There would have been another election and a new PM appointed.
It is absolutely correct the CIA got involved and backed the Iranian military to counter the attempt to overthrow the Shah, and honest people can debate that role and the actions taken. But claiming we orchestrated what caused that is flat out false - unless they hypnotized Mossadeq to pull all of those stunts, they were not the instigators.
The elected government nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil company, which controlled most of Iran’s oil production. The British pushed the US to go in on a coup. Truman refused, but Eisenhower agreed. The deal was US oil companies would get a share of the oil business.
Before that, there was a 1941 Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, because they thought the Nazis had too much influence over the Iranian government.
In this case, the US did play its role, because Iran wanted to nationalize its resources so BP could not lift the resources without paying a full price.
Getting Iran back in the hands of Iranians is rectifying a wrong.
You're leaving about 99% of it out, as noted in the post you are responding to. Western interests in wanting Mossadeq gone and having reason to stop his attempt to overthrow the system of government doesn't negate Mossadeq's actions.
In Iran, they're having trouble
Over oil, so we do hear.
Between Britain and Iran,
The Russians interfere.
On the other side,
Korea is a sea of blood today.
Send the voice of free America
And get on your knees and pray.
Hmmm.
kind of like Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Castro, etc. Lots of that was going around.
The British elites still haven’t changed. They are willing to let their own people be replaced in order to maintain power.
If the Shah had the authority to dismiss the Prime Minister, then why was there a need for a CIA - MI6 orchestrated coup?
This is one of the never ending leftist talking points
I’m glad we took him out and I’ll be glad when the Shiites are taken out.
The marxists colluded with the islamists to put in kohimeni
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