US and UK admit to overthrow of democratic Iran that led to the Shah

**Tom Sawyer** · 20-08-2013, 09:49 PM

20 August 2013 Last updated at 06:58 GMT

CIA documents acknowledge its role in Iran's 1953 coup

BBC Persian's Khashayar Joneidi looks at events surrounding the 1953 coup

The CIA has released documents which for the first time formally acknowledge its key role in the 1953 coup which ousted Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq.

The documents were published on the independent National Security Archive on the 60th anniversary of the coup. They come from the CIA's internal history of Iran from the mid-1970s.

"The military coup... was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy," says one excerpt.

Prime Minister Mossadeq was overthrown after a bid to renationalise Iran's oil industry

The US role in the coup was openly referred to by then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000, and by President Barack Obama in a 2009 speech in Cairo.

But until now the intelligence agencies have issued "blanket denials" of their role, says the editor of the trove of documents, Malcolm Byrne.

This is believed to be the first time the CIA has itself admitted the part it played in concert with the British intelligence agency, MI6.

Mr Byrne says the documents are important not only for providing "new specifics as well as insights into the intelligence agency's actions before and after the operation", but because "political partisans on all sides, including the Iranian government, regularly invoke the coup".

The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institution based at George Washington University.

"By the end of 1952, it had become clear that the Mossadeq government in Iran was incapable of reaching an oil settlement with interested Western countries... was motivated mainly by Mossadeq's desire for personal power; was governed by irresponsible policies based on emotion; had weakened the Shah and the Iranian Army to a dangerous degree; and had cooperated closely with the Tudeh (Communist) Party of Iran.

In view of these factors, it was estimated that Iran was in real danger of falling behind the Iron Curtain; if that happened it would mean a victory for the Soviets in the Cold War and a major setback for the West in the Middle East. No remedial action other than the covert action plan set forth below could be found to improve the existing state of affairs"

Donald Wilber, coup planner,

Iranians elected Mossadeq in 1951 and he quickly moved to renationalise the country's oil production, which had been under British control through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company - which later became British Petroleum or BP.
That was a source of serious concern to the US and the UK, which saw Iranian oil as key to its post-war economic rebuilding.

The Cold War was also a factor in the calculations.

"[I]t was estimated that Iran was in real danger of falling behind the Iron Curtain; if that happened it would mean a victory for the Soviets in the Cold War and a major setback for the West in the Middle East," says coup planner Donald Wilber in one document written within months of the overthrow.

"No remedial action other than the covert action plan set forth below could be found to improve the existing state of affairs."

The documents show how the CIA prepared for the coup by placing anti-Mossadeq stories in both the Iranian and US media.

The coup strengthened the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - who had just fled Iran following a power struggle with Mossadeq and returned following the coup, becoming a close ally of the US.

The US and UK intelligence agencies bolstered pro-Shah forces and helped organise anti-Mossadeq protests.

"The Army very soon joined the pro-Shah movement and by noon that day it was clear that Tehran, as well as certain provincial areas, were controlled by pro-Shah street groups and Army units," Wilber wrote.

"By the end of 19 August... members of the Mossadeq government were either in hiding or were incarcerated."

The Shah returned to Iran after the coup and only left power in 1979, when he was overthrown in the Islamic revolution.

**Tom Sawyer** · 20-08-2013, 09:50 PM

UK too

Here's the Wikipedia report as well (link - pretty much the same as the news report): 1953 Iranian coup d'état - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Tom Sawyer** · 20-08-2013, 10:07 PM

I guess Canada must have been within a heartbeat of overthrow then when it nationalized part of its oil industry in the 1970s. Saving the US hostages in 1979 from the Iranians probably thwarted the coup..

**Primo** · 20-08-2013, 10:23 PM

Nice of the CIA to own up to something that everyone has known about for years.

**mao say dung** · 20-08-2013, 10:41 PM

Unlike MI6, which is still pulling strings (and given their Britishness, todgers too no doubt) to keep the British role hidden.

It's why so many of you assholes seem so stupidly hypocritical when you go on about the Yanks this and the Seppos that... your fucking country is equally guilty of the same sort of thing, just too fucking poor and weak to do it on the same scale. But your country is not as open as the US and not as likely to produce reams of self-criticism like the US.

So maybe you're just to be pitied that your betters still haven't decided to let you in on what goes on in the real world.

Edit: Cowardly dumbass Primo has redded me with this assinine comment " We all ready know you dumb fuck".

Anyone care to guess what this is supposed to mean? Is the OCD-victim suggesting that MI6 has gone public with its involvement? Or is he somehow suggesting that our already knowing about the American and Brit involvement is somehow different from our already knowing about it?

**socal** · 21-08-2013, 02:04 AM

Originally Posted by Primo

Nice of the CIA to own up to something that everyone has known about for years.

They were doing the Iranian ppl a favour. Post Shah Iran is way worse then it was under him.

**sabang** · 21-08-2013, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

he CIA has released documents which for the first time formally acknowledge its key role in the 1953 cou

Ya don't say.

Similarly, documents were released which 'formally acknowledged' Gulf of Tonkin was a black op. Why, t'anks for telling us what we already knew.

But if Pvt Brad Manning and Wikileaks have the temerity to acknowledge what we already knew before the CIA etc decide it is time to divulge it, why the sky caves in.

It's called 'plausible deniability' or some such tautology. What it really means is that government is allowed to lie, but you are not allowed to find out. Seems to me that organs of state have become even more paranoid about control of information in recent years. But they then turn around and use this 'release of information' stuff to tell us how open and accountable they are. Obviously, the real hot stuff will never be released.

**khmen** · 21-08-2013, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

Seems to me that organs of state have become even more paranoid about control of information in recent years.

Yep, probably because they know that with the internet that information can go around the planet in a heartbeat, and access to previously hard to find sources of info are now readily available. It's obviously got them seriously worried.

And they should be, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle!

**Rainfall** · 21-08-2013, 10:34 AM

The Cold War was also a factor in the calculations.

"[i]t was estimated that Iran was in real danger of falling behind the Iron Curtain; if that happened it would mean a victory for the Soviets in the Cold War and a major setback for the West in the Middle East," says coup planner Donald Wilber in one document written within months of the overthrow.

Nonsense. It was all about who pockets the profits of Iranian oil, American and English corporations, or the state of Iran.

**sabang** · 21-08-2013, 10:44 AM

The meddling started years ago- the merkins can plausibly put some blame on the brits, and the frogs too. It didn't turn out well, it bit us in the bum and continues to do so. Just kinda wish we'd learn from bitter experience. Whatever you think of the various tribes, cultures etc there, this area is the cradle of civilisation- ie, very old indeed in human terms. Not sure to what extent we can mess with or doctor the situation, even armed with good intentions- which a number of times we manifestly are not.

Basically, the area that much of our civilisation originated from is now the area much of our energy comes from. Guess we're stuck together at the hip, like it or not.

**Morden** · 21-08-2013, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Unlike MI6, which is still pulling strings (and given their Britishness, todgers too no doubt) to keep the British role hidden.

It's why so many of you assholes seem so stupidly hypocritical when you go on about the Yanks this and the Seppos that... your fucking country is equally guilty of the same sort of thing, just too fucking poor and weak to do it on the same scale. But your country is not as open as the US and not as likely to produce reams of self-criticism like the US.

So maybe you're just to be pitied that your betters still haven't decided to let you in on what goes on in the real world.

Edit: Cowardly dumbass Primo has redded me with this assinine comment " We all ready know you dumb fuck".

Anyone care to guess what this is supposed to mean? Is the OCD-victim suggesting that MI6 has gone public with its involvement? Or is he somehow suggesting that our already knowing about the American and Brit involvement is somehow different from our already knowing about it?

I think that most Britons are aware of the dirty deeds committed by MI6 and the government. It doesn't excuse the dirty tricks of the CIA who are leaders in the game, dragging other governments with them through threats.

**mao say dung** · 21-08-2013, 11:08 AM

Not sure why the Americans would want to "put some blame" on the Brits or anyone else, "plausibly" or otherwise. They don't share your moral-poetic view of these ancient lands. They look in terms of national interest, the same as the Russians do and the Brits and French have done for a very long time indeed. It's how it goes.

The Iranian coup was pretty much a British operation in terms of planning and initiation. Of course it had to be American in terms of money and actually getting things done. This is also how it goes.

Just about everything the Europeans love to blame on "Amerika" is nothing more or less than the Americans having taken over situations that the Brits and French fucked up all by themselves a few decades back.

And if the Americans were to suddenly withdraw from their imperial sprawl, you can bet your ass the Brits and French would suddenly find the excuses and, more importantly, the wherewithal to jump right back in.

**mao say dung** · 21-08-2013, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Morden

I think that most Britons are aware of the dirty deeds committed by MI6 and the government.

Whoopy shit. Most Americans are aware of what the CIA got up to in Iran. The point at issue in my post is that the CIA have made it public. Have MI6?

And what do you imagine a "Briton" is when the DNA machines are turned off?

**socal** · 21-08-2013, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Originally Posted by Morden

I think that most Britons are aware of the dirty deeds committed by MI6 and the government.

Whoopy shit. Most Americans are aware of what the CIA got up to in Iran. The point at issue in my post is that the CIA have made it public. Have MI6?

And what do you imagine a "Briton" is when the DNA machines are turned off?

**mao say dung** · 21-08-2013, 11:21 AM

And today:

**hazz** · 21-08-2013, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Originally Posted by Morden

I think that most Britons are aware of the dirty deeds committed by MI6 and the government.

Whoopy shit. Most Americans are aware of what the CIA got up to in Iran. The point at issue in my post is that the CIA have made it public. Have MI6?

And what do you imagine a "Briton" is when the DNA machines are turned off?

Candian?

**slackula** · 21-08-2013, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by mao say dung

It's why so many of you assholes seem so stupidly hypocritical when you go on about the Yanks this and the Seppos that... your fucking country is equally guilty of the same sort of thing, just too fucking poor and weak to do it on the same scale. But your country is not as open as the US and not as likely to produce reams of self-criticism like the US.

Ok, who are you and what have you done with the real Texpat?

**sabang** · 21-08-2013, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by dung

But your country is not as open as the US and not as likely to produce reams of self-criticism like the US.

Gotta disagree there- the brits probably invented national self criticism. Second only to the weather, it's the national habit.

**Norton** · 21-08-2013, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by socal

Post Shah Iran is way worse then it was under him.

Was there before and after the "revolution". Only the name of the secret police changed. Tactics remain same for any who speaks out against the regime. Torture, jail and assassination.

**mao say dung** · 21-08-2013, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by sabang

Gotta disagree there- the brits probably invented national self criticism. Second only to the weather, it's the national habit.

That's the social myth they use to deflect criticism at a personal level; who would you say is the Brit equivalent of a Chomsky or a Chris Hughes or a Jeremy Scahill just to name a few "Yanks" off the top of my head who obviously don't understand anything cuz they're not Europeans.

**mao say dung** · 21-08-2013, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by quimbian corholla

Ok, who are you and what have you done with the real Texpat?

Hilarious.

Sometimes a point is just a point. Care to address it?

**sabang** · 21-08-2013, 01:34 PM

^^ How far back do you wish to go? Emily Pankhurst? Bertrand Russell? William Wilberforce? Karl Marx wrote most of his stuff there, and died there. Robert Fisk, John Pilger. etc

But enough of celebrities (and Noam Chomsky is a national treasure)- go to a pub. Any pub. Or Speakers corner, Hyde Park, any Sunday morning. The art of invective and national criticism is alive and well in Britain. During my adult years, I've lived at various times in Oz, UK, US, HK & Thailand. From my own observation and experience, no one criticises their own country and government more than the brits. Some say it's because they have more to complain about.

**slackula** · 21-08-2013, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Sometimes a point is just a point. Care to address it?

I think my previous post provides the answer to your question.

**Tom Sawyer** · 21-08-2013, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by socal

Originally Posted by mao say dung

Originally Posted by Morden

I think that most Britons are aware of the dirty deeds committed by MI6 and the government.

Whoopy shit. Most Americans are aware of what the CIA got up to in Iran. The point at issue in my post is that the CIA have made it public. Have MI6?

And what do you imagine a "Briton" is when the DNA machines are turned off?

What makes you think it was strict Islamic pre-1953?

**sabang** · 21-08-2013, 07:19 PM

They even had a nuclear reactor.

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