Israel-Iran Conflict: A Look Back at the US’s History of Regime Change in Iran
According to a report by CNN, since Israel began its concerted attack on Iran, calls for regime change have grown louder, with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raising the possibility of targeting Tehran’s all-powerful leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This has sparked concerns about the US’s history of intervention in Iran, particularly its role in the 1953 coup that overthrew the country’s democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh.
Iranians have firsthand experience with the US enforcing a regime change in their country. As CNN reports, in 1953, the US helped stage a coup to overthrow Mossadegh, who had pledged to nationalize the country’s oil fields – a move the US and Great Britain saw as a serious blow, given their dependence on oil from the Middle East.
The coup, which was carried out with the help of the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service, was a pivotal moment in the country’s history. According to CNN, the goal of the coup was to support Iran’s monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to rule as Shah of Iran, and appoint a new prime minister – Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi. The coup was preceded by a propaganda campaign that helped foment anti-Mossadegh fervor, and was followed by large protests against Mossadegh, which were soon joined by the army.
The US provided financial support to Zahedi, the country’s new prime minister, with the CIA covertly making $5,000,000 available within two days of him taking power, documents showed. As CNN notes, in 2013, declassified CIA documents were released, confirming the agency’s involvement in the coup for the first time. However, the US role was not a secret, with former President Barack Obama acknowledging involvement in the coup in 2009.
However, the coup ultimately backfired, with Iranians resenting the foreign interference and fueling anti-American sentiment in the country for decades. As CNN reports, after toppling Mossadegh, the US strengthened its support for Pahlavi to rule as Shah. Iranians resented the foreign interference, which ultimately contributed to the Shah’s downfall in the 1979 Islamic revolution, which ended the country’s western-backed monarchy and ushered in the start of the Islamic Republic and clerical rule.
The legacy of the 1953 coup continues to be felt today, with many Iranians viewing the US as an interfering and hostile power. As CNN notes, the US’s history of intervention in Iran has created deep-seated suspicions and mistrust among the Iranian people. As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, it remains to be seen whether the US will learn from its past mistakes and adopt a more nuanced approach to its relations with Iran.
In conclusion, the US’s history of regime change in Iran is a complex and contentious issue, with deep implications for the country’s future. As CNN reports, understanding this history is crucial to grasping the dynamics of the current conflict between Israel and Iran, and to avoiding the mistakes of the past.
