US and UK covert operations in 1953 Iran coup

In 1953, the CIA and MI6 orchestrated a covert operation to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq. The coup was driven by Mosaddeq’s decision to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, a move that directly challenged the economic interests of the United Kingdom and the United States during the Cold War.

The intervention reinforced the power of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and increased Western influence in the region. However, the operation also established a long-standing legacy of distrust toward Washington in Iran. This event set a historical precedent for subsequent U.S. covert operations in other nations, such as Guatemala in 1954 and Chile in 1973.