The illegal overthrow was executed in a joint CIA–MI6 operation, supported by bribed politicians, army officers, and media outlets, along with orchestrated street protests.
Over four days, Iran descended into violence marked by a series of assassinations, staged bombings, and sabotage, culminating in Mosaddegh’s downfall.
The coup resulted in hundreds of casualties and Mosaddegh’s show trial, ushering in 26 years of authoritarian rule that ended only with the Islamic Revolution of 1979 led by Imam Khomeini.
It was the first US-UK-backed coup of its kind in Iran, later serving as a blueprint for similar interventions and “color revolutions” around the world.
Why was Mosaddegh overthrown?
At the heart of the coup was Western anxiety over Iran’s decision to nationalize its natural resources. Since the early 1900s, Britain had maintained a monopoly over Iran’s oil industry through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), offering Tehran only a minimal share of profits.
Mosaddegh’s government sought fairer terms but faced stiff British resistance.
The AIOC, notorious for broken promises on infrastructure and for appalling treatment of Iranian workers, refused to negotiate. In response, the Iranian parliament voted to nationalize the oil industry and expel foreign managers and manipulators.
London retaliated with economic sanctions, seized tankers carrying Iranian oil, and even considered military intervention in Iran’s southwest.
Ultimately, British and American intelligence agencies decided on “regime change,” using covert networks originally built to counter Soviet influence.
Their official justification, that Mosaddegh leaned toward Moscow, mirrored the same pretext used to occupy neutral Iran during World War II.
Rather than treat Tehran as a partner with equitable trade rights, Washington and London viewed Iran as an economic colony. They also feared that Iran’s nationalization might inspire other nations to break free from exploitative treaties, threatening Western dominance.
Media manipulation
The coup was not waged only on the ground but also through information warfare.
The BBC Persian Service, working closely with the British Embassy, disseminated propaganda aimed at turning Iranians against the government and nationalization. Diplomatic correspondence reveals a patronizing view of Iranians as “illiterate” and easily deceived.
British officials instructed the BBC to paint nationalization as economic suicide, insisting that the AIOC was a benevolent employer, claims debunked by Iranian workers themselves during broadcasts. Listeners openly challenged London’s hypocrisy, asking why Britain could nationalize its coal and steel while branding Iran’s oil nationalization illegal.
To fabricate dissent, the BBC aired “Iranian” voices opposing nationalization, who turned out to be British citizens. Meanwhile, US outlets vilified Mosaddegh as a dictator “like Hitler or Stalin” and applauded the Shah’s return as a victory for stability.
Consequences of the coup
By toppling Mosaddegh, the US and UK exposed the hollowness of their proclaimed values of democracy and self-determination. The imposed dictatorship in Tehran sowed lasting resentment among Iranians, culminating in the 1979 Revolution led by Imam Khomeini.
When Iranian students took over the US embassy, the den of espionage, later that year, they justified the move with fears of another foreign-backed coup, a suspicion confirmed by classified documents found inside.
The crisis dealt a fatal blow to US President Jimmy Carter’s re-election, seen in Tehran as symbolic retribution for 1953.
American policy toward Iran has since remained hostile: refusing to recognize elected governments, backing anti-Iran terror cults, sponsoring covert operations, imposing sanctions, and freezing billions in Iranian assets.
Denial and revisionism
Despite declassified CIA files confirming US and UK involvement in the coup against the democratically-elected government in Tehran, revisionist narratives persist.
Monarchist exiles, Neocon circles, and sympathetic authors have attempted to reframe the coup as an “internal Iranian dispute” or portray Mosaddegh as a dictator.
Others have sought to downplay the foreign role or exaggerate internal involvement, to serve sinister political agendas against the sovereign Iran.
Prominent revisionists include former Pahlavi diplomat Darioush Bayandor and writers Abbas Milani, Amir Taheri, and Ray Takeyh, often linked to institutions like WINEP and the Gatestone Institute. Former US envoy Brian Hook even echoed claims that the US had no role in the coup.
Western-backed propaganda outlets such as Radio Farda, BBC Persian, Iran International and DW Persian continue to push these narratives, echoing the same disdain for Iranian public opinion voiced by officials during the 1950s.
Even today, many British officials remain unwilling to acknowledge MI6’s role, though voices like former foreign secretary David Owen have urged London to come clean finally.
Regime change project continues
Hawks in the US and other Western countries still openly advocate the so-called “regime change” in the Islamic Republic of Iran while denying documented espionage and sabotage.
The recent 12-day war on Iran by the Israeli regime, with American backing, represented the latest attempt to destabilize the country through military aggression and bring about “regime change.”
Since coming back to power in 2022, Netanyahu has aggressively pushed for 'regime change' in Iran. In a June 2025 interview with Fox News, he suggested that Israel’s military actions could bring about the collapse of the Islamic Republic, which he characterized as 'very weak’.
The Trump administration, which was engaged in indirect nuclear diplomacy with Iran at the time, provided both overt and covert support to the Israeli regime in its aggression against Iran.
Days into the 12-day war, the US carried out unprovoked strikes on Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, thus making no secret of how it was a project aided and abetted by war hawks in Washington.
Trump’s threats to assassinate Iran’s top leadership were another clear indication that the 12-day war was a project planned in Washington to trigger the collapse of the Iranian government.
Europeans were also deeply involved, as attested by remarks made by the German chancellor, who defended the illegal aggression and admitted that it was “dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.”
The underlying objective, since 1953, has been evident: to impose a compliant government that would strip Iran of its military, technological, and economic independence, and reintegrate it into the framework of Western dominance reminiscent of the pre-1979 era.
Achieving this shift would hand the US and Israel uncontested influence over energy routes, military dynamics, and critical strategic passages across the region, leaving no significant challenger."
(The contents were originally published on Press TV website)