1953 Coup
The August 1953 coup, engineered with CIA and MI6 involvement, that ousted Prime Minister Mossadegh and restored Mohammad Reza Shah's power, with lasting effects on Iran–West relations.
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- Date
- 19 August 1953 (28 Mordad 1332)
- Target
- Government of Mohammad Mossadegh
- Organizers
- CIA (Ajax) and British intelligence (Boot)
- Outcome
- Consolidation of Mohammad Reza Shah's power
Detail
The 1953 coup d'état (28 Mordad 1332 / 19 August 1953) brought about the overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran's elected and popular prime minister, who had nationalized the Iranian oil industry—long monopolized by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (today's BP). The move angered Britain, and Washington, amid the Cold War and fearing Iran might drift toward the Soviet Union, sided with London. A joint operation of the CIA (codenamed Ajax / TPAJAX) and British intelligence (Operation Boot) was carried out against Mossadegh, financing and organizing demonstrations and buying off soldiers and street mobs. A first attempt on 15–16 August failed and the Shah fled, but the CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt persisted and brought the coup to success on 19 August; Mossadegh was deposed and arrested. The Shah returned and royal power was consolidated. Declassified CIA documents in recent years have confirmed the agency's role, though scholars continue to debate the relative weight of foreign versus internal factors.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Iranica, "Coup d'État of 1332 Š./1953"
- Ervand Abrahamian, The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations
- Mark J. Gasiorowski & Malcolm Byrne (eds.), Mohammad Mossadegh and the 1953 Coup in Iran