4. Iranian Coup
The Iranian coup d’etat of 1953 was a plot that was contrived by the British and American governments as a way to replace the current Prime Minister of Iran in order to strengthen the monarchial rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The U.S. and Britain wanted to ensure that the monarchy had greater power than the elected government in order to find a government that was more sympathetic to the needs of the U.S. and Britain. Britain wanted to replace the elected government because of the vote to nationalize the oil in Iran, which meant more favorable concessionary arrangements with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Britain was against the idea but the people of Iran lauded the work of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh for fighting to take control of Iran. In response the British did an embargo of Iranian ports and prevented them from being able to sell their oil anywhere else. The plot to try and get Iran to agree to Britain’s oil terms ended up bankrupting the country. Tens of thousands were put out of work, and while many still supported nationalism, they wanted to get back to work.
The U.S. for their part had been monitoring the situation in Iran and feared that the nationalism movement was really a soviet plot. Britain stroked those fires and convinced the Eisenhower Administration that Iran would fall to the Soviets if the country did not get under control. So they agreed on Operation Ajax which funneled money and support to royalist members of the Iranian Army. They also bribed people to show hatred toward the Shah, which was still a subject of pride in Iran, and destroy Shah symbols to grow hatred toward the Prime Minister within the country. Millions were spent bribing officials to support the coup and the transition that followed.