Fedor Potanin
AMH2035
Professor Bryan Wurthrich
October 19, 2015
Was the 1953 Coup d’état a success?
American-Iranian tensions have permeated the media for the past several years. Iran, a strategically positioned remnant of the Persian-Empire, a country with rampant anti-western ideology that is held by its’ highest echelons of authority will launch its own atomic program in the second half of 2015. The origin of American-Iranian tensions are often shrouded but modern relations directly stem from the 1953 Coup d'état, also known as TPAJAX. In its infancy, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the primary planning agency for TPAJAX, would set the stage for American foreign policy throughout the second half of the 20th century and the remainder of the Cold War. The question is: was TPAJAX successful?
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The 20th century is the foundation for the modern world's absolute dependence on oil. In 1900 William Knox D’arcy, a British entrepreneur, funded a decade long expedition to find oil in Iran. In 1901 D’arcy proctored a six-year concession with Iranian officials that would guarantee all oil to his company and allot 16% of the proceeds back to the Iranian Shah. It was not until 1908 did D’arcy’s expedition strike oil; an event that lead to the formation of Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) now formally known as British Petroleum (BP). APOC was nationalized by the British during World War I and until the 1979 Islamic Revolution served as a spring of oil for the British
In early 1951, the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry by Mosaddegh was the trigger for the United Kingdom to begin discussion with the United States to overthrow Mosaddegh and return the power to the shah. When the coup attempt was thwarted, the CIA decided to call off continuing with the operation because they did not want it to get traced back to the United States. However, Kermit Roosevelt believed that the United States should not be done interfering with Iran, and
The American public was so captivated by the Iran Hostage Crisis because they were blindsided by this radical action and their knowledge of America’s involvement in Iran was limited. The media played a major role in influencing their emotions and they already had trouble trusting the American government. This unknown involvement began in 1943 when President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin met in Tehran to discuss how to remove the British and Soviet military forces from Iran because Iran wanted to be its own nation. The United States aided the young Shah, the ruler of Iran, and his government with military weapons and loans. Over time, Prime Minister Mossadegh, of Iran, gained more and more power until he was the true ruler of Iran and the Shah was just a figurehead. The United States, fearing the spread of communism, devised a secret plan for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to over throw Prime Minister Mossadegh.
Looking back to 1953, the nation was at a much different place. However, the decisions that were made in 1953 greatly impacted the nation’s involvement in terrorism today. Stephen Kinzer, author of All The Shah’s Men, addresses how the United States’ role in the 1953 CIA coup in Iran leads up to modern terrorism that can be seen in society currently. Additionally, Kinzer is a very credible source considering he has worked in more than fifty countries and is an award-winning foreign journalist. Furthermore, Kinzer has been the New York Times bureau chief in multiple different countries; some being Berlin, Managua, Nicaragua, and Istanbul. With that being said, Kinzer has a vast amount of knowledge regarding the nation’s role in foreign affairs. According to Kinzer, the 1953 CIA coup in Iran politically destabilized the nation, led to the rise of modern terrorism, and immensely affected the CIA’s reputation. This paper examines Kinzer’s arguments with the assessment that the nation involving itself in foreign affairs undeniably leads to unintended consequences.
On David Farber 's book Taken Hostage, Farber informs us about the Iran Hostage Crisis and America 's First Encounter with Radical Islam. This book tells us how the United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decade that caused the United States many problems. Farber talked about all the events that lead to the Iranian Hostage Crisis. November 4, 1979, seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty four days following, were the first steps leading up to the perpetual War on Terror. Farber believes the failure from American policymakers and more specifically from President Carter, to identify the severity of the crisis made for the prolonged crisis. The sheer ineptitude of Carter administration was the cost of the US to lose it’s way economically, culturally, politically and even military. Carter struggled to respond to the impulses of Islamic fundamentalism within the prevailing Cold War paradigm. They saw the real battle as against secular modernism and they recognized that the US was the major force spreading this cultural and political belief throughout the world. The media misrepresentations of the struggle and mass media manipulation of Americans played on the peoples emotions. Although Carter was popular at the beginning of his presidency, this began
All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer details the 1953 American-orchestrated coup in Iran. Iran was under British economic control, but as it modernized, Iranians began fighting for their own control. Their fledgling democracy was working to modernize, until the UK and the US decided to interfere to protect Britain’s colonial holdings from Soviet influence. Because the US was not interested in protecting a British business, British politicians emphasized the threat the USSR held to Iran, leading to Americans inserting themselves into a nation’s politics in which they had no place. They successfully orchestrated a coup, however, the negative, long-term, anti-Western results overwhelm any positive effect. All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer paints a picture of the results of action without adequate attention to future results.
Oil has often been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Although this is an overemphasis, oil has been the key, nonhuman resource of the economy throughout the largest part of the 20th century. In the book “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power” by Daniel Yergin, the author illustrates the political, societal, economic, and geo-strategic importance of this product.
The Iranian hostage crisis was one of the most dramatic events in a series of problems that took place during President Jimmy Carter’s term. The crisis, beginning in November of 1979, received the most coverage of any major event since World War II. It was one of many problems faced in light of the United State’s complex relationship with Iran. The effects on both the US and Iran were astronomical, especially politically as well as economically and socially. It took a heavy toll on American relations with the Middle East and changed the way we engage in foreign affairs. In light of this crisis, Iran started an international war that we are still fighting thirty-two years later.
The [Bush] administration found it consistently difficult to get the measure of Tehran. Bush depicted it as a “nation held hostage by a small clerical elite that is repressing and isolating its people,” but the reality was far more complex. (482)
In her essay, Shareen Brysac tells the story of the 1950 coup of the Iranian government through a particular lens which paints Persians as too simple-minded to see the overthrow coming; while also implying that the CIA coup of the Mossadegh was a result of the Cold War and not US interest. On the other hand, Ervand Abrahamian asserts that the US has actually been hiding information about the Coup because people wouldn’t want to really know what is going on, furthermore he views the overthrow of Mossadegh as a strategic move to protect US oil interest in Iran, because as doctor Varzi explains in her note to the reader, he was advocating for the nationalization of Iranian oil. Furthermore, she discusses how the rule of the Shah who was attempting
The American government is known to promote democratic values throughout the world. Though the ideals America was fighting for during the Cold War, the government still managed to participate in the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh threatened to nationalize Iran’s oil in 1951 and later gained the support of the Iranian government. The British companies had many investments in Iranian oil. It is with the approval of nationalization that the economies of both British and Iran were ultimately harmed. The British government requested the help of the US so that they could perform a coup to overthrow Mossadegh. With suspicions of Mossadegh supporting communism, and being supported by the Tudeh Party, the United States government was willing to sacrifice their democratic ideologies and credibility in the region for the insurance of an anti-communist leader. This would prove to cause problems that still resonate in today’s political and military negotiations in this region.
The importance of democracy took a backseat to economics and national pride when the CIA orchestrated an elaborate coup to overthrow the government of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq. In the beginning of the Cold War, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddeq, passed the oil nationalization agreement, which nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and its holdings in Iran. The CIA, with assistance of MI6, planned, funded and implemented Operation TPAJAX, a covert CIA operation. CIA collaborated with Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq and the elected government of Iran. The TPAJAX plan consisted of two components a political and a military element. The political component of TPAJAX created an artificial campaign of destabilization to accumulate, in a sanctuary, by clergy-led crowds inside the Majles enceinte where a censor motion and bribing of deputies would cause the fall of Mosaddeq through parliamentary procedures. The military component of TPAJAX was only a contingency to maintain the desired outcome against resistance by Tudeh or Mosaddeq supporters. The CIA orchestrated the 1953 Coup of Iran to overthrow Mosaddeq; primarily to maintain existing western control of Iranian oil, thus preventing the collapse of Great Britain’s economic system and alleviating the risk of an Iranian government strongly influenced by the Soviet Union.
The nationalization of the sprawling Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and its holdings voted into place by the Iranian parliament revoked the ownership British colonialism had on one of the world’s largest oil supplies. This consequentially caused distress for not only Britain but the United States as well. This single act kick started the beginning of the American Coup, a staged plan to overthrow and seize the power of the Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh in an effort to regain control of the oil industry in the Middle East. In 1953, two years after the initial nationalization of AIOC, the C.I.A. began the coup but faltered and failed due to Mossadegh receiving advanced warnings; in the end Mossadegh was overthrown. The coup led by America bred a new
A wealthy British gentleman by the name of William D’Arcy is the founder of the world famous gas station BP. D’Arcy had a thrill over oil and decided to invest all of his savings in the quest for oil in the Middle East. Experts and scientists helped encourage D’Arcy to pursue the venture. But years started to pass and funds starting to run low, William was starting to feel as if this was the wrong investment. Throughout the years BP has gone through a plethora of ups and downs. From bankruptcy, to not being able to transport oil to desired location, and also having more oil than they could sell and not having a demand for it. Also BP has had disasters related to social responsibility, and before the major oil spill in 2010,
In the “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power,” Yergin undertakes the reader upon a thorough and enjoyable journey through oil history, from the first 1859 well drilling by Colonel Edwin in Pennsylvania during up to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in a wrathful grab for oil and wealth in 1990 August. Yergin explores the role of oil in warfare, depicts the ever-changing organization of the oil sector, and examines the prominent, as well as often flamboyant petroleum players. The book is a well-researched and well-written, and supplement to a history branch, which until very lately, had been regrettably neglected—history of business.
BP was a company established by William Knox D’ Arcy, an Englishman who venture to Persia to explore oil.