The full arc of US-Iran relations from the 1953 CIA coup through the 1979 revolution to the current nuclear standoff. How a single covert operation in 1953 set in motion 70 years of conflict.
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Highlights
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The 1953 CIA coup in Iran is the original sin of US Middle East policy
The CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected prime minister Mosaddegh in 1953 to protect British oil interests. This destroyed Iranian trust in democracy and directly led to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Short-term solutions create long-term problems — the coup solved a 1953 problem and created a permanent one
The CIA coup 'solved' the immediate problem (oil access) but created a far larger permanent problem (decades of hostility, nuclear proliferation, regional instability).