The GlobaL Story: Operation Ajax: The CIA’s Iran coup
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At the outset of the war in Iran, US President Donald Trump suggested that regime change was one of its goals. He later said it had been had achieved, a claim that is disputed by critics who point out that the same repressive forces in Iran still hold power.
American attempts at regime change in Iran have a long history. In 1953 the CIA, assisted by British intelligence, led a deadly coup that toppled Iran’s last democratically elected leader. It’s a moment in history that poisoned US-Iranian relations, and helped launch the theocratic revolution to come. But the immediate success of ‘Operation Ajax’ would convince the CIA to carry out a wave of similar plots around the world.
We get the full story from Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran.
The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
Producers: Viv Jones and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Supporters of the Shah of Iran in Tehran, 1953. Credit: Getty/Bettmann
American attempts at regime change in Iran have a long history. In 1953 the CIA, assisted by British intelligence, led a deadly coup that toppled Iran’s last democratically elected leader. It’s a moment in history that poisoned US-Iranian relations, and helped launch the theocratic revolution to come. But the immediate success of ‘Operation Ajax’ would convince the CIA to carry out a wave of similar plots around the world.
We get the full story from Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran.
The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
Producers: Viv Jones and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Supporters of the Shah of Iran in Tehran, 1953. Credit: Getty/Bettmann
