Iran & America: A Century and Counting · Episode 2 of 11 · 23 min
Operation Ajax: How the CIA Overthrew Iran's Mosaddegh in 1953
In August 1953 the CIA and British intelligence helped topple Iran's elected prime minister. A first attempt failed and the Shah fled; paid crowds, bribed newspapers and provocateurs then set up a second push that ended with Mosaddegh's surrender and some 300 deaths. The operation shaped how Iranians came to see America.
Who's who
- Mohammad Mosaddegh+6 more episodesElected prime minister overthrown on August 19, 1953
- Kermit Roosevelt Jr.+3 more episodesCIA officer who ran the operation on the ground
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi+8 more episodesShah who signed the decrees, fled, then returned to power
- Fazlollah Zahedi+2 more episodesRoyalist general named to replace Mosaddegh
- Dwight D. Eisenhower+12 more episodesU.S. president whose administration approved the operation
- Harry S. Truman+14 more episodesPredecessor who had refused British appeals for a coup
Where it happens
- Tehran, Iran+7 more episodesStreets where paid crowds, provocateurs and royalist units clashed with Mosaddegh's defenders
Timeline
- October 1952Britain, expelled from Iran, urges the incoming American team to act against Mosaddegh.
- August 15–16, 1953The first attempt fails; Mosaddegh is tipped off and the Shah flees.
- August 19, 1953A pro-Shah crowd and royalist units overwhelm Mosaddegh's defenders; roughly 300 die.
- 2013The CIA formally acknowledges the operation through declassified files.
- 2017The State Department publishes its retrospective volume of planning and operational cables.
Still debated
Historians dispute how decisive the CIA was: some argue Iranian dynamics, such as Mosaddegh's eroding coalition and defections, mattered as much as covert action, while others hold the coup would not have happened without CIA money and direction. They also weigh why Eisenhower approved what Truman refused.
← PreviousWhy Iran Once Trusted America: Oil, Empire & Mosaddegh's RiseNext →The Shah's Iran: Modernization, SAVAK & the Road to Revolution
Connected episodes in other series
How Eisenhower Greenlit the CIA's First CoupTwo Parties, One Coup · Episode 2Also features Dwight D. Eisenhower, Fazlollah Zahedi
How White Evangelicals Moved From Democrat to RepublicanA Wall of Separation · Episode 7Also features Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman
Standard Oil's Secret Cartel With Nazi GermanyBackyard Empire: The U.S. in Latin America · Episode 3Also features Harry S. Truman
The Man Who Blamed Fat — Ancel Keys and the Diet-Heart HypothesisEat Real Food? Nutrition Advice · Episode 3Also features Dwight D. Eisenhower