Operation Ajax Essay
3999 Words
Oct 25th, 2010
16 Pages
| Operation Ajax | The 1953 Coup in Iran | |
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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…
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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…
Its exploitation should properly be our national industry, and the revenue from it should go to improve our conditions of life. … I must add here that the population living in the oil region of southern Iran and around Abadan … is suffering in conditions of absolute misery without even the barest necessities of life. If the exploitation of our oil industry continues … if we are to tolerate a situation in which the Iranian plays the part of a mere manual worker in the oil fields … and if foreign exploiters continue to appropriate practically all of the income, then our people will remain forever in a state of poverty and misery. These are the reasons that have prompted the Iranian parliament … to vote unanimously in favor of nationalizing the oil industry.
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
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