Newly declassified CIA documents emphasize the agency’s significant role in the 1953 coup d’etat in Iran. While the CIA-led operation is still regarded by Washington as a “success,” it actually led to dire consequences for both Iran and America, RIA Novosti contributor Vladimir Ardayev wrote.
Washington has a long record of regime change operations, RIA Novosti contributor Vladimir Ardayev writes; however, each time the US meddled in foreign state affairs, it then had to cope with the whirlwind it had sown.
Last week the US State Department released declassified documents shedding light on the role Washington played in the 1953 coup against the Iranian government of Mohammad Mosaddegh.
“The uprising of Aug. 19, 1953, in Tehran, organized by CIA agents with the participation of Muslim clergy led to the replacement of the legitimately-elected cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh with the government of General Fazlollah Zahedi — the protégé of Western intelligence services,” Ardayev wrote.
The journalist pointed out that at that time Washington pursued two goals: first, to prevent the rise of the Tudeh, the Communist Party of Iran; second, to abolish the nationalization of the oil industry in Iran that endangered the interests of the UK, America’s strategic ally.
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Although the two goals were closely interconnected the oil issue obviously dominated the agenda, the journalist pointed out.
In the 20th century Middle Eastern crude remained a major factor determining the West’s policy in the region, Ardayev wrote, adding that American and British corporation had for decades controlled hydrocarbon reserves in the Middle East.
However, in the middle of the 20th century the Gulf realms exerted pressure on oil corporations demanding a larger share of oil revenues.
“When the US firm in Saudi Arabia bowed to pressure in late 1950 and agreed to share oil revenues evenly with Riyadh, the British concession in Iran came under intense pressure to follow suit. But London adamantly refused,” Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian of Foreign Policy magazine wrote.
The UK’s refusal prompted then Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadegh to nationalize Iran’s oil industry in early 1951.
In response, Britons began mulling over the regime change operation to oust the democratically elected Iranian prime minister together with US intelligence services.
The oil issue became the trigger of the chain of events that resulted in the CIA-orchestrated coup in Iran. Simultaneously, Washington and London sought to prevent the rise of Communists in the Middle Eastern country.
“Ever since the assassination of General Razmara in March 1951, and the subsequent impasse and diplomatic break with Britain over the oil negotiations, the Iranian situation has been slowly disintegrating. The result has been a steady decrease in the power and influence of the Western democracies and the building up of a situation where a Communist takeover is becoming more and more of a possibility,” a memorandum from CIA Director Dulles to US President Eisenhower written on March 1, 1953, read.
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