Back in early 1950s, the then Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh, launched a conflict with primarily British interests, threatening to nationalize British assets in the oil industry. To add to that, British and American strategist came to the conclusion that Mossadegh had communist leanings and would move Iran into the Soviet orbit if allowed to remain in power.
That effectively meant that Mossadegh was doomed, despite the huge popular support he enjoyed at home.
British and American special services concocted a plot which eventually led to Mossadegh's overthrow and arrest with the help of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, who became the most trusted Western ally in the region.
The plot, known as TP-AJAX, consisted of several steps including the use of propaganda to politically undermine Mossadegh, inducing the Shah to cooperate, bribing members of parliament, organizing the security forces, and stirring up public demonstrations.
The peculiar thing about the recent revelation of the CIA's role in the plot is that it had been an open secret for everybody throughout the last six decades. Still, the current publication on the National Security Archive website is the agency's first open acknowledgement of its role.
Indeed, it should be remembered that the coup only helped the U.S. and Britain to maintain their interests in Iran temporarily, until the 1979 revolution. It also added to the anti-American and anti-Western feelings that fuelled the revolutionary movement.
One may only wonder why the CIA has only now admitted its role, as the documents do not really contain anything new. But in fact, it is not the events 0f 60 years ago that matter but rather the question; how long it will take the agency to admit its role in the turbulent events in the Middle East (or wherever) in more recent years.
Take for example the creation of Al Qaeda. In 1980s, it was created as a useful tool used by the West against the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan, with Osama bin Laden serving as an obedient minion. The ultimate outcome is all too well known.
Or take the "Arab Spring". There can hardly be anyone so naïve as to suppose that it was a product of spontaneous mass protests, in fact, it was the result of the same tactics used in Iran back in 1953, deploying propaganda to politically undermine existing regimes, inducing parts of the elite to cooperate, bribing politicians, organizing militant units, stirring up public demonstrations, etc.
Obviously, the West is unwilling to learn from its own mistakes and since the current regime in Iran does not seem to be any more sympathetic to the West's interests in the region than Premier Mossadegh, the strategy remains the same and it may even succeed, for a while.
One should always remember though that, as the 1953 coup eventually resulted in the 1979 revolution, a new attempt to topple the regime in Iran (even a successful one) will only result in an asymmetrical backlash. And since the speed of political processes in the 21st century is much faster than in mid-20th century, the U.S. is unlikely to enjoy a similar 26-year period of abundance.
Boris Volkhonsky, senior research fellow, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies
CIA confirms role in 1953 Iran coup
Today, on the 60th anniversary of the coup against Iran’s Mohammed Mossadegh, Foreign Policy Magazine reported that the National Security Archive website — an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington DC — has published a document in which the CIA openly acknowledges its involvement in the overthrow of the man who was elected as Iran’s prime minister.
The open acknowledgment by the US intelligence community comes some six decades after the British- and American-backed military overthrow.
The newly-revealed documents declassify documents about CIA’s TPAJAX operation that sought regime change in Iran through the bribery of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, and massive anti-Mossadegh propaganda that helped to instigate public revolt in 1953.
Among the declassified documents there are several examples of CIA propaganda presenting Iranian PM Mossadegh disparagingly.
Britain’s MI6 military intelligence then teamed up with the CIA and planned, elaborated and carried out a coup that ousted Mossadegh in August 1953 and returned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power.
The first attempted coup failed after Mossadegh got wind of the conspiracy, but American and British intelligence services in Iran then improvized a second stage of the coup, pulling pro-Shah forces together and organizing mass protests on August 19, 1953. These protests were immediately supported by army and police. Mossadegh’s house was destroyed after a prolonged assault by pro-coup forces, including several tanks.
Mossadegh was replaced with Iranian general Fazlollah Zahedi, who was handpicked by MI6 and the CIA. Mossaddegh was later sentenced to death, but the Shah never dared to carry out the sentence. Mossadegh died in his residence near Tehran in 1967.
The Shah’s pro-Western dictatorship continued for 27 years and ended with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which paved the way for today’s Iran, where anti-American sentiments remain strong. The 1953 coup still casts a long shadow over Iranian-US relations.
The declassified documents originated from an interim report, called “The Battle for Iran,” prepared by a CIA in-house historian in the mid-1970s. The historian wrote: “The military coup that overthrew Mossadegh and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy.” The report also mentions that the US establishment feared that Iran could be “open to Soviet aggression,” and therefore initiated Operation TPAJAX, which eventually became the American part of the joint US-British ‘Operation Ajax’ that brought the Shah to power.
Voice of Russia, RT, The DAWN, Press TV