Everything you are about to read is a summary from a CIA Briefing entitled “Zendebad, Shah: The Central Intelligence Agency and the Fall of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq, August 1953”. You can read it yourself here: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/the%20central%20intelligence%20%5B15369853%5D.pdf

Northern Iran was an important staging point for the Soviet Union in World War II, and served as a location that the Americans could reinforce their Soviet partners. During the war against the Germans, this proved mutually beneficial. After the war, Iran became an important country for the ideals of the West, as the United States and her allies did not desire to see Iran fall to the ideals of the Communist Soviet Union who were still actively located in Iran. The presence of US influence and the West grew as the British empire receded after WWII and completely left the Persian Gulf. In 1947, President Harry Truman committed to the world that the United States would show support to free peoples anywhere, helping them to resist the pressures of outside forces.

The “Truman Doctrine” expanded the “Monroe Doctrine”, moving the United States from being a regional isolationist country into a global interventionist. The US was now the global counterweight to the Soviet Union and communist spread.

Shortly after the new global stance policing the world against the spread of communism, it became clear that Iran was an important piece to Western control because of the huge importance the country played in global oil resources and because the increasing instability due to communist influence. The oil from Iran fueled Western Europe, especially US ally Britain, and the whole of their economy would collapse if current agreements of the day changed due to Soviet influence (Britain had an agreement to take and hold control over 3/4 of all Iranian oil — insane!)

Then it happened. In 1951 Islamic fundamentalists assassinated the prime minister and installed Mohammed Mossadeq as leader who promptly sought a more fair profit sharing method with the company now known as BP. BP was only giving a 16% royalty on all the oil they extracted from Iran, and Mossadeq was now asking for a 50-50 split. This was out of the question for Britain. Iran nationalized their oil and the West embargoed Iran.

Meanwhile, Mossadeq was quarreling with the king, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, at home. He felt as though the Shah was not reigning, merely ruling. Mossadeq presented the idea of an Iran separate from British-colonial influence. Mossadeq was so desperate to separate his country from the British that he tried to get the United States to convince the British of a more fair trade deal. The United States, to its credit, did try to get a deal done. For President Truman, the main concern was not an independent Iran but a communist one, and Mossadeq in their calculation was someone who would prevent a communist revolution.

This continued from 1951 until President Eisenhower was sworn into office in 1953. With this new presidency, The British made their move. For years they had desired a coup on Prime Minister Mossadeq, and with a new president in the White House they may have an opening. They presented the idea that Iran had become politically unstable to the point of civil war, with Soviet backers funding the usurping party. With this, Eisenhower agreed to the ousting of Mohammed Mossadeq, placing him in prison.

But who would replace him?

At first the US looked to back religious leader Ayatollah Kashani, but deemed the leader as someone who also would oppose Western influence. So, they chose to back military General Fazlollah Zahedi. Apparently his greatest attribute was simply that he was anti-communist, as he had significant red flags having previously worked with the Nazis and was anti-British.

With Zahedi as the replacement with US backing, the only real question left was how to remove Massadeq. Invading Iran was a massive undertaking and diplomacy was off the table, so Eisenhower turned to the CIA to bring about regime change covertly.

First was to get ahold of a US operative in the area who had broad knowledge and influence in the area. They found their man in Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. Much of the planning has been blocked out of the files released by the CIA, but we do know Kermit put together a plan to present to the CIA and most people enthusiastically agreed to proceed with the plan. Interestingly, because it was a covert CIA operation, those involved did not need to get approval to proceed.

How things unfold after this point becomes very unclear, as much of the events that follow have been redacted. What is seen is that US attempts to remove Mossadeq fail at first. The strategy then moves to making Mossadeq’s position as prime minister illegal due to an edict that the CIA drafted and got the Shah to sign. When it came time to endorse the edict and arrest Mossadeq, the part of the military loyal to Mossadeq stepped in and began arresting those who were on the side of the US and the Shah. The Shah fled to Baghdad. The CIA coup attempt had failed so dramatically that Mossadeq now had consolidated power, leaving him with more authority than before.

Kermit Roosevelt stepped in to regroup the flailing mission. Roosevelt was convinced that he would be able, through psychological warfare, to get the the Iranian people to see Mossadeq was illegally holding onto power and that General Zahedi was, in fact, the legal prime minister.

Once again, we do not get to see all the plans made or enacted. But we do see the final product. Roosevelt got the support he needed by gathering up pools of influencers. First, he got athlete celebrities to lead protests in support of the Shah, and the crowds gathered massively in support of these stars. Secondly, Roosevelt was able to get the religious leaders to inspire the poor to support the Shah. The protesting led to a civilian march onto the prime minister’s home, where an eventual shootout between the opposing factions of the military occurred.

After an hour and a half of fighting, Shah support had completely swept the country. Mossadeq was finished.

The new government of the Shah and Prime minister Zahedi lasted 26 years, and that time proved beneficial to the West and, arguably, Iran. Iran saw themselves prosper as a people and they modernized greatly.

By modernization, of course, I largely mean Westernization. This was not something that all Iranians enjoyed. Those in Iran who were more traditional and religious beloved that the country had veered far from its religious roots and rose up, in 1979 placing Ayatollah Khomeini into the leadership role.

Was Operation Ajax to blame? No doubt that the Iranian revolt in 1978-1979 was in part due to the built up anger against US influence and meddling into the Iranian world. But, the CIA documents argue, the revolution would have happened regardless because of the deep religious ties within the Iranian nation. Any movement away from their religion would cause an uprising. Plus, remember, the religious leaders were a large part of making the coup successful to begin with. Had they not spurred the emotions of the impoverished, the coup may not have happened.

In the notes on the aftermath of this successful coup, the eyes of Secretary of State Allen Dulles turned to Guatemala, where he felt similar tactics used in Iran could be duplicated in a coup deposing their President Jacobo Arbenz. We know now that the US did do just that. The 1954 Guatemalan overthrow was due to joint interests of business and anti-communist efforts. Arbenz was nationalizing fruit production, negatively impacting the large American business the United Fruit Company, now Chiquita Brands. The US leaned on psychological warfare again, depending on those like Edward Bernays for their expertise, Bernays being the father of modern propaganda and nephew of Sigmund Freud.

The CIA felt invincible… Until the Bay of Pigs disaster where they tried to play the regime change script once again.

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