President Authorizes Coup in Iran

Intervention in Iran – 65th Anniversary

ranian Premier Mohammed Mossadegh ca. 1951
Iranian Premier Mohammed Mossadegh ca. 1951

On August 19, 1953 President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to support British efforts to launch a coup against the popularly elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in favor of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. At immediate issue were plans by Mossadegh to nationalize the British owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and allegations that Mossadegh was in bed with the Soviet Union.

 

Here is a 5 minute CNN report from 2013 on the release of documents by the CIA about its involvement:

65 years later we are still reaping rewards from this intervention.

Intervention in Vietnam in the same era

Just as most Americans then and now don’t know the history of the American Empire it is worth noting that the US began supporting the French efforts to reestablish its colonial rule over Vietnam in the post-WWII period. US military advisors, a phrase that appeared repeatedly the context of Vietnam (and elsewhere) right up to President Johnson’s invasion in 1964, appeared in Vietnam as early as 1950. Almost all of the financing for the French military came from the US.


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