waltky
Wise ol' monkey
Mossadegh advocated alignment with the USSR...
CIA finally admits it was behind 1953 coup which deposed Iranian prime minister who stood up to the West
19 August 2013 > Mohammad Mossadegh was deposed in a military coup on August 19, 1953; CIA and MI6 have long been thought to have orchestrated the operation; But today U.S. officials admitted responsibility for the first time ever
CIA finally admits it was behind 1953 coup which deposed Iranian prime minister who stood up to the West
19 August 2013 > Mohammad Mossadegh was deposed in a military coup on August 19, 1953; CIA and MI6 have long been thought to have orchestrated the operation; But today U.S. officials admitted responsibility for the first time ever
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the coup in Iran which deposed prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh after he restricted the flow of oil to the West. However, it is only now, six decades on, that the CIA has finally admitted that it was behind the revolution, which was one of the most significant landmarks in modern Iranian history. It has long been widely acknowledged that the U.S. and British authorities were behind Mossadegh's overthrow - one factor behind the anti-Western sentiments shared by many in Iran which led to the 1979 Islamist revolution in the country.
However, the CIA has never publicised its role in the operation, claiming that it needs to maintain secrecy in order to protect its working methods and sources of information. But today the agency released documents to the National Security Archive in which it admits that the coup 'was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U.S. foreign policy'. The operation, codenamed 'TPAJAX', was 'conceived and approved at the highest levels of government', the documents - entitled 'The Battle for Iran' and compiled in the 1970s - reveal. The agency admits that the coup, which saw the Shah persuaded to sack Mossadegh and replace him with Fazlollah Zahedi, was a 'last resort' and a 'policy of desperation'.
Secret: This CIA document from the 1970s reveals the agency's role in overthrowing Mossadegh
It took place on August 19, 1953, after negotiations between Britain and Iran over securing UK access to Iranian oil broke down. MI6 is thought to have asked the CIA to remove Mossadegh and install a pro-Western leader, and the U.S. authorities readily agreed as a way of getting the upper hand over the Soviets in the Cold War. The internal dossier says: 'It was the potential of those risks to leave Iran open to Soviet aggression that compelled the United States in planning and executing TPAJAX.' One alternative possibility was a unilateral invasion of Iran by British forces, similar to the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt during the Suez crisis three years later.
However, that prospect was apparently unacceptable to the U.S., as it would lead to a Soviet backlash and the West would permanently lose access to Iran's oil supply. 'The Soviet army would have moved south to drive British forces out on behalf of their Iranian "allies",' the CIA documents say. 'Then not only would Iran's oil have been irretrievably lost to the West, but the defence chain around the Soviet Union which was part of U.S. foreign policy would have been breached.' They continue: 'Under such circumstances, the danger of a third world war seemed very real.' Although the coup was extremely successful in the short term, with Mossadegh being swiftly removed and imprisoned, its long-term effects were less positive.
Read more: CIA finally admits it was behind 1953 coup which deposed Iranian prime minister who stood up to the West | Mail Online
Last edited:
