All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

Stephen Kinzer

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Year 1951: It said that he was “supported by the majority of whole source
It said that he was “supported by the majority of the population” and described him as “witty,” “affable,” “honest,” and “well informed.” Th…
Year 1898: As a young soldier in 1898, he had charged the Der whole source
As a young soldier in 1898, he had charged the Dervish lines at the decisive Battle of Omdurman that secured Sudan as a British colony. Duri…
Year 1951: During that year of 1951, Mossadegh vaulted onto t whole source
During that year of 1951, Mossadegh vaulted onto the world stage and came to dominate it. He had become a defining figure whose ideas, for b…
Year 1951: He was Mohammad Mossadegh, Premier of Iran in the whole source
He was Mohammad Mossadegh, Premier of Iran in the year 1951. He was the Man of the Year. He put Scheherazade in the petroleum business and o…
Year 1952: CHAPTER 9 Block Headed British On a sunny July d whole source
CHAPTER 9 Block Headed British On a sunny July day in 1952, eight months after his return from Washington, Prime Minister Mossadegh was dr…
Year 1906: An annex to the 1906 constitution made the Shah su whole source
An annex to the 1906 constitution made the Shah supreme commander of the Iranian army but also required him to cooperate with the elected go…
Year 1919: He was so mortified by the Anglo-Persian Agreement whole source
He was so mortified by the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919 that he applied for residence in Switzerland and told his family he would live th…
Year 1947: Ayatollah Kashani, who had learned that Qavam plan whole source
Ayatollah Kashani, who had learned that Qavam planned to arrest him, issued a fatwa ordering soldiers to join the rebellion, which he called…
Year 1926: Impressed with his loyalty and his firm hand, the whole source
Impressed with his loyalty and his firm hand, the Shah made him governor of Khuzistan, the province where the Abadan refinery was located, i…
Year 1942: In September 1942 senior officers of the Secret In whole source
In September 1942 senior officers of the Secret Intelligence Service summoned the legendary agent Fitzroy MacLean, whose exploits had taken…
Year 1950: Mohammed Reza Shah named him to the Senate in 1950 whole source
Mohammed Reza Shah named him to the Senate in 1950 and the next year persuaded Mossadegh to choose him as interior minister. Mossadegh dismi…
Year 1952: Prime Minister Churchill, who in the words of one whole source
Prime Minister Churchill, who in the words of one of his foreign spies “enjoyed dramatic operations and had no high regard for timid diploma…
Year 1933: He was an undersecretary when Britain negotiated t whole source
He was an undersecretary when Britain negotiated the 1933 accord that outraged Mossadegh and other Iranian nationalists. Later he made sever…
Year 1952: In mid-November of 1952, less than two weeks after whole source
In mid-November of 1952, less than two weeks after the election, they sent Woodhouse to Washington. Woodhouse met with his CIA counterparts…
Year 1926: When the firm’s managing partner died in 1926, Fos whole source
When the firm’s managing partner died in 1926, Foster was given the job. One of his first decisions was to recruit his brother. Allen Dulles…
Year 1948: In 1948 he served as the foreign policy adviser to whole source
In 1948 he served as the foreign policy adviser to the Republican presidential candidate, Governor Thomas Dewey of New York. Many assumed th…
Year 1953: Ike will agree.” Eisenhower was inaugurated on Ja whole source
Ike will agree.” Eisenhower was inaugurated on January 20, 1953. Days later, the American ambassador in Tehran, Loy Henderson, began contac…
Year 1952: In 1952 Wilber had spent six months running the CI whole source
In 1952 Wilber had spent six months running the CIA’s “political action” office in Tehran, an assignment that gave him a firsthand view of p…
Year 1953: Extra police officers were on the street that Sund whole source
Extra police officers were on the street that Sunday morning, August 16, 1953. Sirens wailed as security agents swooped down on conspirators…
Year 1953: “Now this was 1953, and a copying machine is about whole source
“Now this was 1953, and a copying machine is about the size of two refrigerators. But at that time neither I nor most American journalists o…
Year 1951: The two best, Ali Jalili and Farouk Keyvani, began whole source
The two best, Ali Jalili and Farouk Keyvani, began working for the CIA in early 1951 as organizers of the propaganda and sabotage network kn…
Year 1956: Mossadegh served the full prison term and upon his whole source
Mossadegh served the full prison term and upon his release in the summer of 1956 was brought to his home in Ahmad Abad. One morning soon aft…
Year 1953: Fatemi was a zealous antimonarchist, and during th whole source
Fatemi was a zealous antimonarchist, and during the turbulent days of August 1953 he had attacked the Shah, whom he called “the Baghdad fugi…
Year 1962: In 1962, having consolidated his increasingly repr whole source
In 1962, having consolidated his increasingly repressive regime, the Shah allowed the National Front to emerge from its illegality and hold…
Year 1953: The men who organized and carried out the 1953 cou whole source
The men who organized and carried out the 1953 coup soon scattered. General Zahedi, the prime minister who replaced Mossadegh, pleased the S…
Year 1963: He died there in 1963. Zahedi’s son Ardeshir, whos whole source
He died there in 1963. Zahedi’s son Ardeshir, whose quick wits and perfect English made him a valuable asset to the coup plotters, went on t…
Year 1957: His influence did not diminish after his father’s whole source
His influence did not diminish after his father’s fall, and in 1957 he married the Shah’s eldest daughter, Princess Shahnaz. Wary of his gro…
Year 1983: American investigators implicated them in both the whole source
American investigators implicated them in both the 1983 suicide bombing that killed 214 American marines in Beirut and the 1996 attack that…
Year 1994: Prosecutors in Argentina asserted that they ordere whole source
Prosecutors in Argentina asserted that they ordered one of the most heinous anti-Semitic crimes of the post-Holocaust era, the 1994 bombing…
Year 1953: As a postrevolutionary generation came of age in I whole source
As a postrevolutionary generation came of age in Iran, Iranian intellectuals began assessing the long-term effects of the 1953 coup. Several…
Year 1953: Kermit Roosevelt could sense this view taking hold whole source
Kermit Roosevelt could sense this view taking hold even before he had finished delivering his White House briefing on September 4, 1953. “On…
Year 1953: Undoubtedly, there would have been no coup in Augu whole source
Undoubtedly, there would have been no coup in August 1953 if it had not been for the CIA. The CIA devised Operation Ajax, paid a large sum t…
Year 1953: Yet Mossadegh himself helped bring Iran to the dea whole source
Yet Mossadegh himself helped bring Iran to the dead end it reached in mid-1953. It may be an exaggeration to assert, as some have done, that…
Year 1953: Gasiorowski: In retrospect, the United States–spon whole source
Gasiorowski: In retrospect, the United States–sponsored coup d’etat in Iran of August 19, 1953, has emerged as a critical event in postwar w…
Year 1978: complicity in these events figured prominently in whole source
complicity in these events figured prominently in the terrorist attacks on American citizens and installations that occurred in Iran in the…
Year 1979: Mary Ann Heiss: In the long term it may well be tr whole source
Mary Ann Heiss: In the long term it may well be true that the inability of the British and the United States to deal with Mossadegh, whose p…
Year 1953: I wanted to be in Iran for the forty-ninth anniver whole source
I wanted to be in Iran for the forty-ninth anniversary of the 1953 coup, and he admitted that there seemed little prospect of that. “Maybe I…
Year 1979: But for five decades, excepting only a brief coupl whole source
But for five decades, excepting only a brief couple of years after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he has been cast as a dubious figure at b…
Year 1953: On this day, however, the forty-ninth anniversary whole source
On this day, however, the forty-ninth anniversary of the coup that brought down his government on August 19, 1953, we were the only ones. I…
Year 1952: Crowds of thugs banged on it as they shouted “Deat whole source
Crowds of thugs banged on it as they shouted “Death to Mossadegh!” during the aborted 1952 uprising. During that same uprising, a jeep carry…
Year 1953: The house before which this gate once stood was wr whole source
The house before which this gate once stood was wrecked and burned on the night of August 19, 1953, and later the debris was bulldozed to ma…
Year 1997: Beginning in the 1990s, and especially after the r whole source
Beginning in the 1990s, and especially after the reform-minded Mohammad Khatami was elected president in 1997, Iranians used Mossadegh as a…
Year 1953: He told me that a few weeks before the 1953 coup, whole source
He told me that a few weeks before the 1953 coup, he attended a reception at the home of an Iranian diplomat in Washington and overheard the…
Year 1953: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A small but dedicated group of sc whole source
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A small but dedicated group of scholars has devoted considerable effort to uncovering the truth about events surrounding th…
Year 2000: In 2000, a copy was leaked to the New York Times. whole source
In 2000, a copy was leaked to the New York Times. It confirmed much of what was known about the coup and added many new details. The reporte…
Year 1953: Roosevelt Firsthand accounts of the events of Aug whole source
Roosevelt Firsthand accounts of the events of August 15–19, 1953, appeared in the New York Times and in newspapers served by the Associated…
Year 1952: An official account is included in the CIA’s cland whole source
An official account is included in the CIA’s clandestine service history, Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952–August 1953,…
Year 2000: Wilber and referred to here as “Service History.” whole source
Wilber and referred to here as “Service History.” A summary of this history was published in the New York Times on April 16, 2000, and the f…
Year 1983: Visit did not go well: McGhee, George, Envoy to th whole source
Visit did not go well: McGhee, George, Envoy to the Middle World: Adventures in Diplomacy (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), pp.
Year 1980: Joint communiqué: Alexander, Yonah, and Nanes, All whole source
Joint communiqué: Alexander, Yonah, and Nanes, Allen (eds.), The United States and Iran: A Documentary History (Frederick, Md.: Alethia Book…
Year 1979: Kashani on foreign yoke: Cottam, Richard W., Natio whole source
Kashani on foreign yoke: Cottam, Richard W., Nationalism in Iran (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979), p.
Year 1951: Reston says United States intervened too late: New whole source
Reston says United States intervened too late: New York Times, October 18, 1951. McGhee’s efforts with Mossadegh: McGhee, op.
Year 1952: Mossadegh as man of the year: Time, January 7, 195 whole source
Mossadegh as man of the year: Time, January 7, 1952. Chapter 9: Block Headed British Shah will pack his suitcase: Katouzian, op.
Year 1988: Mohammad Musaddiq, Champion of the Popular Movemen whole source
Mohammad Musaddiq, Champion of the Popular Movement of Iran and Former Prime Minister (London: Jebhe, 1988), p.
Year 1953: Zahedi will send Mossadegh to city jail: London Ti whole source
Zahedi will send Mossadegh to city jail: London Times, August 24, 1953. Zahedi’s government receives millions from CIA: Service History, op.
Year 2002: Riot outside Mossadegh’s home: Author’s interview whole source
Riot outside Mossadegh’s home: Author’s interview with Mahmoud Mossadegh, August 19, 2002. Officers arrested and executed: Diba, op.
Year 1982: Tudeh activists executed: Abrahamian, Ervand, Iran whole source
Tudeh activists executed: Abrahamian, Ervand, Iran between Two Revolutions (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982), p.
Year 1982: Iran Between Two Revolutions (Princeton, N.J.: Pri whole source
Iran Between Two Revolutions (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982).
Year 1953: “The 1953 Coup in Iran” (article), in Science & So whole source
“The 1953 Coup in Iran” (article), in Science & Society, vol.
Year 2001: 2 (Summer 2001). Abramson, Rudy. Spanning the Cent whole source
2 (Summer 2001). Abramson, Rudy. Spanning the Century: The Life of W.
Year 1941: Iran’s Foreign Policy 1941–1973 (Charlottesville: whole source
Iran’s Foreign Policy 1941–1973 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1975).
Year 1982: The United States and Iran: Patterns of Influence whole source
The United States and Iran: Patterns of Influence (New York: Praeger, 1982). Rand, Christopher T. Making Democracy Safe for Oil: Oilmen and…
Year 1975: Making Democracy Safe for Oil: Oilmen and the Isla whole source
Making Democracy Safe for Oil: Oilmen and the Islamic East (Boston: Little Brown, 1975). Roosevelt, Kermit. Countercoup: The Struggle for Co…
Year 1941: The British forced him from his throne in 1941. Hi whole source
The British forced him from his throne in 1941. His eldest son, the future Mohammad Reza Shah, stands second from left. The British built th…
Year 1951: Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh thrilled Iranian whole source
Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh thrilled Iranians when he nationalized the oil company in 1951. Here he is shown in the bed from which he…
Year 1952: Mossadegh visited the United States in 1952. Presi whole source
Mossadegh visited the United States in 1952. President Harry Truman tried to arrange a compromise between Iran and the British. Henry Grady,…
Year 1994: See also communism anti-Semitism Buenos Aires bo whole source
See also communism anti-Semitism Buenos Aires bombing (1994) Reza Shah Arab conquest Arachosians Aramash, Ahmad Aramco Arbenz, Jacob…
Year 1994: See Secret Intelligence Service (MI U.K.) Buenos whole source
See Secret Intelligence Service (MI U.K.) Buenos Aires bombing (1994) Butler, R.
Year 1953: coup of 1953. See Operation Ajax Ctesiphon Cuba whole source
coup of 1953. See Operation Ajax Ctesiphon Cuba Curzon, Lord Cyrus Czechoslovakia Daftary, Mohammad Danton Darbyshire, Norman D’Arc…
Cyrus the Great founds the Persian Empire whole source
After rising to power in 559 B.C., Cyrus launched a brilliant campaign that brought other leaders on the vast Iranian plateau under his sway…
Alexander the Great destroys Persepolis whole source
The death blow came from no less a conqueror than Alexander, who marched into Persia in 334 B.C. and, in a rampage of destruction, sacked an…
Britain acquires telegraph concession across Iran whole source
In 1857 they bought a concession to build one across Iran.
Iran's first Majlis convenes whole source
They assembled for their historic first session on October 7, 1906.
Iran adopts its first constitution whole source
It was finally adopted on December 30, 1906, setting Iran on what would be a century of highly uneven progress toward democracy.
Reza Khan stages coup in Tehran whole source
On the evening of February 20, 1921, he and a handful of his fellow officers led two thousand men to the outskirts of Tehran.
Reza Shah founds the Pahlavi dynasty whole source
He assumed it on April 25, 1926, and proclaimed himself Reza Shah.
British and Soviet troops occupy Iran whole source
To prevent that, British and Soviet troops entered Iran on August 25, 1941.
Reza Shah abdicates the throne whole source
He abdicated on September 16, 1941.
Time names Mossadegh Man of the Year whole source
No one was surprised when Time magazine chose him over Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Winston Churchill as its Man of the Year for 195…
Operation Ajax overthrows Mossadegh whole source
Operation Ajax, as the CIA coup against Mossadegh was code-named, was a great trauma for Iran, the Middle East, and the colonial world.
Islamic Revolution establishes theocracy in Iran whole source
His dictatorship produced the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which brought to power a passionately anti-American theocracy that embraced terror…
Mossadegh becomes Iran's prime minister whole source
Finally, in 1951, they turned to Mossadegh, who more than any other political leader personified their anger at the Anglo-Iranian Oil Compan…
Operation Ajax coup begins against Mossadegh whole source
Most of Tehran was asleep when an odd caravan set out through the darkness shortly before midnight on August 15, 1953.
Safavid dynasty makes Shiism Iran's state religion whole source
After a series of victories won with the help of Shiites who flocked to his side from other lands, Ismail proclaimed himself shah, or king,…
Afghan tribesmen invade Iran and sack Isfahan whole source
Neighbors began to prey on it, and in 1722 Afghan tribesmen swept down and overran it, even sacking Isfahan itself.
Nadir Shah assassinated, Qajar dynasty rises whole source
Nadir was assassinated in 1747, and after a series of power struggles that lasted nearly fifty years, a new dynasty, the Qajars, came to pow…
Britain acquires telegraph concession across Iran whole source
In 1857 they bought a concession to build one across Iran.
Britain and Russia divide Iran into spheres whole source
In 1907 Britain and Russia signed a treaty dividing Iran between them.
Operation Ajax coup begins against Mossadegh whole source
Operation Ajax, as the CIA coup against Mossadegh was code-named, was a great trauma for Iran, the Middle East, and the colonial world.
Mossadegh becomes Iran's prime minister whole source
Finally, in 1951, they turned to Mossadegh, who more than any other political leader personified their anger at the Anglo-Iranian Oil Compan…