Today, August 25, 2013, is the 60th anniversary of Operation Ajax, the CIA's coup d'etat in Iran. Just as the Iranians were healing the lesions in its body politic, Anglo-American intelligence pulled the rug out from under Iran's feet. The long ensuing reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi evolved one of the most corrupt societies on earth, from 1945 to 1979. This is not to say Iran did not make progress under the shah. Nonetheless, the opposition was able to use the 1953 coup to align and justify its radical policies. When the mullahs took over in 1979, the 1953 overthrow became one of the reasons why the shah was overthrown, why American diplomats were taken hostage, why Iran fought Iraq, and why Iran's leaders today ignore international prohibitions against making a nuclear weapon and launch vehicle.
Mr. Musaddiq was democratically elected prime minister. He had support from the key players on the largely underworld Iranian political scene: key clerics, merchants, intellectuals, and those of a leftist persuasion. Musaddiq's big crime was reaching an accomodation with the communists of the Tudeh party, drawing their support at the ballot box.
Of course Communism was the bugbear behind American post-war peacetime military deployments. Oil dictated that no region was more important than Iran: the Soviets occupied northern Iran during WWII but failed to withdraw in 1945, prompting the first Cold War stand-off. Mr. Musaddiq became doubly dangerous to the West when he threatened nationalization of the oil fields. Part of the deal with Shah Reza Pahlavi was that at least 40% of Iran's oil exports, go to Britain and the United States.
The individuals involved were all puppets trying to be puppetmasters. The cabal, the camarilla, included the Foster-Dulles brothers, and Kermit Roosevelt of the CIA. British MI5 was also involved. In fact, it was their idea. It originated with Anne Lampton. Ironically she wrote the best English textbook on the Persian language, still in print.
Much time has passed but still Irani 'leaders' use the 1953 coup as a symbol to calumniate the West. The CIA coup remains a reason, a justification, for Iranian terror and its projection. It became the poison pill. At the very least the USA and Britain should publicly apologize, explaining that they worried back in 1953, that Iran would fall to the communist Tudeh party. No one knows what would have happened if Operation Ajax never occurred.
Mr. Musaddiq was democratically elected prime minister. He had support from the key players on the largely underworld Iranian political scene: key clerics, merchants, intellectuals, and those of a leftist persuasion. Musaddiq's big crime was reaching an accomodation with the communists of the Tudeh party, drawing their support at the ballot box.
Of course Communism was the bugbear behind American post-war peacetime military deployments. Oil dictated that no region was more important than Iran: the Soviets occupied northern Iran during WWII but failed to withdraw in 1945, prompting the first Cold War stand-off. Mr. Musaddiq became doubly dangerous to the West when he threatened nationalization of the oil fields. Part of the deal with Shah Reza Pahlavi was that at least 40% of Iran's oil exports, go to Britain and the United States.
The individuals involved were all puppets trying to be puppetmasters. The cabal, the camarilla, included the Foster-Dulles brothers, and Kermit Roosevelt of the CIA. British MI5 was also involved. In fact, it was their idea. It originated with Anne Lampton. Ironically she wrote the best English textbook on the Persian language, still in print.
Much time has passed but still Irani 'leaders' use the 1953 coup as a symbol to calumniate the West. The CIA coup remains a reason, a justification, for Iranian terror and its projection. It became the poison pill. At the very least the USA and Britain should publicly apologize, explaining that they worried back in 1953, that Iran would fall to the communist Tudeh party. No one knows what would have happened if Operation Ajax never occurred.
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