See the other articles in this series:
- The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Operation Ajax: The 1953 Iranian Coup d'état
- Support for rebellions throughout the Cold War
- Shifting alliances in the Middle East
- Unflinching support of Israel
- The War in Iraq
- American Exceptionalism and its two-faced foreign policy
Iran vs. the West
Many Americans remember the 444-day Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, in which a group of revolutionary students swarmed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held the State Department employees hostage. This event caused the current 30-year silence between the two governments—neither country has an official diplomatic relationship with the other nation. While the crisis prompted a backlash of American anger toward Iran, few Americans remember (or even know) the reason why the students despised the United States: the Shah.
In the early 1950s, Iran was an important colony under the control of the United Kingdom. The UK had a huge revenue stream from the Iranian oil industry. The oil profits, however, did not benefit Iran itself. Since 1941, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had ruled Iran as the pro-Western shah who was seen by many as a puppet of the British government.
In 1951, the relationship between the United Kingdom and Iran was turned upside down by the election of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq. He was an anti-Western populist who wanted the oil revenue to benefit the Iranian people. In a speech supporting his recent nationalization of the oil industry, Mosaddeq stated, “With the oil revenues we could meet our entire budget and combat poverty, disease, and backwardness among our people.” He went on to promote Iranian political and economic independence from outside powers.
Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go over well with the United Kingdom. After the independence of India in 1950, Winston Churchill (who had just begun his second stint as Prime Minister) was determined not to lose another central colony. The United Kingdom tried to enlist the help of the United States, but the Truman administration did not support intervention in Iranian politics. In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower took over the White House and, afraid of Communist influence in Iran, ordered the CIA to overthrow Mossadeq.
Operation Ajax
The plan to depose Mossadeq’s government was led by CIA officers Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. (the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt) and Donald Wilber. It was a multifaceted operation that involved anti-Mossadeq propaganda, financially supporting anti-Mossadeq groups, and staging numerous protests and attacks. It culminated in the Shah’s return to Iran (he had fled at the outset of the coup) to condemn Mossadeq and replace him with General Fazlollah Zahedi. Zahedi, backed by the United States and the United Kingdom, was the leader of the coup d'état and built a large network of military and public support.
The Shah returned triumphantly to Iran to reclaim kingship of the country. He reigned until the Iranian revolution in 1979—he is primarily remembered as a repressive and extravagant ruler. His secret service SAVAK was notorious for its use of torture, and his servitude toward the United States (a non-Muslim foreign power) angered the religious establishment.
The Significance of Operation Ajax
For the first time in history, the United States supported (and orchestrated) the overthrow of a democratically elected government. Even though Eisenhower had true concerns about the possibility of Soviet intervention in the nation, this represented a turning point in American foreign policy. As we’ll see in the third installment of this series, the United States continued its regime change operations throughout the rest of the Cold War. This was also one of the first interventions of the United States in Middle East politics—while the issue is still debated, some scholars trace the current atmosphere of terrorism and anti-Americanism in the Middle East to the 1953 coup d'état.
As we continue the series, though, we’ll discover more than one cause of anti-Americanism in the world.
For more information
All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, by Stephen Kinzer
Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran (Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East),
by Mark J. Gasiorowski
