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What was the Central Intelligence Agency’s role in the 1953 overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq?

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Central Intelligence Agency seal — Central Intelligence Agency Seal of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a leading role in the 1953 coup in Iran, a covert operation known as Operation Ajax. Following the nationalization of Iran's oil industry by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, the United Kingdom persuaded the United States to intervene due to concerns over Western oil interests and Cold War fears regarding potential communist influence.12

Approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the CIA-funded operation worked to destabilize the government by fomenting unrest, harassing political and religious leaders, and conducting a media disinformation campaign. Although the coup nearly failed when the Shah initially hesitated to sign the necessary decrees, the effort ultimately succeeded in removing Mosaddegh from power and restoring Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as a pro-Western monarch.13

While the agency long denied its involvement, it formally disclosed its role in the operation in 2013. This intervention is widely considered to have set the stage for the Islamic Revolution of 1979.21