Operation Ajax

"There may be honor among thieves, but there's none in politicians."
--T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

Operation Ajax was a CIA operation to overthrow the government of Iran in 1953. Two years prior, the democratically elected Mohammad Mossadeq had pushed for nationalization of Iran's oil industry, thereby removing it from the clutches of England who had been enjoying a sweetheart oil deal rooted in Sykes-Picot decades earlier.

Reluctant to lose its cheap oil supply, Britain convinced the US that the Iran regime had communist inclinations. The Americans, gripped in Cold War mania, were drawn in.

The CIA op, led by Theodore Roosevelt's grandson Kermit, used classic methods of subterfuge. The CIA hired Iranian goons to pose as communists to instigate riots and vandalize property. The majority of Iranian citizens demanded that the Iranian military intervene. By that time, the CIA had turned many Iranian military leaders into CIA operatives. When the moment came, the military operatives deposed the Mossadeq regime in the name of saving the country from communism.

The corrupted military leadership returned power to the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who had previously been king. In exchange for the throne, the Shah was at the service of the US and UK. His dictatorship reigned for the next 25 years.

Although many Iranians suspected US involvement, the coup was kept secret from the American people for many years. The CIA, of course, considered the coup a resounding success.

In 1979 a revolt overthrew the Shah and Islamist forces headed by Ayatollah Khomeini prevailed. Takeover of the US Embassy in Iran and the ensuing 'hostage crisis' punctuated the period. The Islamist Republic of Iran was born, alongside anti-American animosity that has endured for decades.

The lineage of this creation traces straight to Ajax.