Mamet Sabovic
On this day in 1953, the US and Britain lead a coup that overthrew Iran's democratically-elected government.
In 1951, Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran. Soon after, he announced plans to nationalize the oil industry.
For over 4 decades prior, Iran’s oil had been under British control.
In response to this move to end Britain’s plunder of Iran’s oil, both the US and Britain imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil industry. Britain also took Iran to the International Court of Justice and demanded they pay compensation for disrupting the company’s profits.
On August 19, 1953, the US and Britain led a coup d’etat to overthrow Iran’s elected Prime Minister Mossadegh and install US puppet Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The coup was aimed at protecting Britain’s plunder of Iran’s oil against the will of Iranian people. At least 300 people died during the coup.
The Shah allowed Britain to continue to plunder Iran’s oil, opened an Israeli embassy, and acted as a pawn in the U.S. Cold War against the Soviet Union. Supported and trained by the CIA and MI6, the Shah created SAVAK, a secret police force notorious for murders, surveillance, repression, and torture.
In 2013, 60 years after the coup, the CIA declassified documents formally acknowledging its role in overthrowing Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh.
“The military coup... was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy”. DECLASSIFIED CIA DOCUMENT, NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE, 2013
The CIA paid an estimated $20 million to carry out the coup, and gave the puppet government $6 million, including $1 million personally to the puppet Prime Minister Zahedi. The US bribed officials, paid protestors, and instigated violence.
Today, the US is escalating decades of violence aimed to subordinate and control Iran.
In alliance with Israel and Britain, the US is waging a heinous war of aggression to continue to plunder and exploit Iran and the region.
Author: Saikat Bhattacharya
