Operation Ajax Essay
|
In 1953 the Central Intelligence Agency working in tandem with British intelligence overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, who was educated in the West and pro-America. Shortly after being elected in 1951 he nationalized the British run oil fields, denying Britain control of Iran’s hugely lucrative oil infrastructure. The operation included the use of techniques such as; propaganda, bribery, engineered demonstrations using agents of influence, and false flag operations. “The CIA’s agents harassed religious leaders and bombed one’s home in order to turn them against Mossadeqh.” They also attacked mosques, and distributed phony anti-Mossadegh …show more content…
AIOC’s nationalization brought Mossadegh into immediate conflict with Britain who did not intend to let Iran nationalize its assets without adequate compensation, and the United States thought that it would ultimately lead to a communist takeover. American officials feared that a British failure to compromise with Mossadegh would “enable him to whip up Iran’s virulent nationalism further, with potentially disastrous results. … (and) that it could not stop Tehran from moving to the Soviet orbit. Or the Iranian political situation could simply descend into chaos, in which case the Soviet-backed Tudeh … would be ready to fill the vacuum.” The communist threat is based upon Iran not being able to economically