Although this is a documentary film, it will probably appeal to spy novel fans and those who like cloak and dagger stories, especially since real life agents describe their roles and actions during the 1953 Iranian coup. The interviews took place in the early 80’s for a British television series that focused on the declining British Empire. The makers of the documentary were able to obtain the original film of the intelligence officers being interviewed, which were digitized and became a part of the film, which was completed in 2019.
To understand why the coup occurred, I’ll go over the events that led to the arrest of Prime Minister Mossadegh. The British government owned a controlling interest in the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., which became British Petroleum (BP) after the coup, and by 1951 had controlled the oil fields for nearly four decades. As a reaction to Britain receiving 80–85% of oil profits, a political party in Iran supported a prime minister candidate, Dr. Mossadegh, who ran on a platform of nationalizing the oil fields. He won the election and, as promised, started the process of taking control of the oil fields away from England.
I’m not a historian or scholar, but from what I have read and learned from the film, Iran had a monarch, the Shah, who had power over the Prime Minister and Parliament. Churchill, still leading England, wasn’t going to allow the control of the oil fields to slip away, so he approved a plan by MI6, Britain’s intelligence service, to take Mossadegh out. The first coup attempt in 1952 failed, so the prime minister closed the British embassy and expelled the diplomats (most likely spies) from Iran.
Churchill turned to President Truman for help in overthrowing Mossadegh, but Truman refused, saying Iran was a sovereign country and the U.S. government would not interfere with military action. Churchill only had to wait a few months. When Eisenhower won the November 1952 election, Churchill quickly arranged a meeting with the president-elect. Both refused to tell reporters what they discussed, but it likely involved Iran’s oil fields.
In the documentary, a CIA agent said the British were aware of the paranoia and fear of communism in the United States. This suggests the British government used that fear to persuade Eisenhower to allow the CIA to work with MI6 to remove Mossadegh. According to author David Talbot, the British reframed the dispute in Cold War terms, arguing that communism was the real threat. This approach convinced Eisenhower to authorize CIA involvement.
However, there appears to be little evidence that communism posed a real threat in Iran. The CIA and MI6 attempted another coup. That attempt also failed, and the Shah fled to Rome with his wife. Parliament then gave Mossadegh full power, and Iran briefly appeared to function as a true democracy. It raises the question of how different the Middle East might look today if the third coup attempt had also failed.
The filmmakers discovered a transcript of an interview with a British agent who claimed he masterminded the final coup. After the second attempt failed, and even though Eisenhower had given up, the agent organized another effort without official approval. Soldiers and tanks were sent to Mossadegh’s home, where they opened fire. Mossadegh escaped through a neighbor’s house but later surrendered and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. A family member said Mossadegh was heartbroken, as his vision for Iran had been destroyed.
The CIA and MI6 later persuaded the Shah to return to Iran and appoint a new prime minister. With CIA assistance, the Shah’s secret police were trained to suppress dissent. This organization eventually became known as SAVAK, which has been accused of torture and of “disappearing” political opponents.
Author Stephen Kinzer said that after a few years the CIA handed the SAVAK operation over to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
A Times of Israel article from November 2013 notes that Israelis living in Iran at the time were aware of SAVAK’s repression. Critics of the Shah often disappeared, and strict controls limited the spread of anti-government materials. Mossad reportedly maintained close relations with SAVAK, and some people believed Israeli intelligence helped train the organization in interrogation techniques, though some experts dispute this claim.
Another perspective comes from Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli Middle East analyst, who argues that SAVAK did not need Israeli help to conduct violent interrogations. He suggested Mossad likely cooperated with SAVAK on intelligence matters related to the Arab world rather than on repression.
Israel’s close relationship with the Shah’s regime did contribute to resentment among many Iranians. While Israeli officials say their cooperation focused on intelligence issues rather than suppressing opposition, the association with SAVAK still created negative perceptions.
The Times of Israel article also discusses the film “Before the Revolution,” which shows life in Iran for Israelis before the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The film highlights both the prosperity and the darker aspects of that relationship. Some Israelis acknowledged being aware of human rights abuses but said they were focused on business opportunities and the lifestyle available under the Shah’s rule. The film also details large arms deals and military cooperation between Israel and Iran.
Whether Mossad directly participated in SAVAK’s abuses remains unclear, but the suspicion among Iranians who lived through that period helps explain the hostility toward the United States and Israel.
The film “Coup 53” also reveals that CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, entered Iran with a suitcase containing one million dollars. The money was used to influence newspaper editors to publish propaganda against Mossadegh, portraying him as a communist, a British agent, or other negative labels. Roosevelt also recruited people in Tehran’s bazaar to stage protests that appeared to be spontaneous uprisings against the prime minister.
One American agent interviewed in the film said he was responsible for writing articles designed to portray Mossadegh as a communist sympathizer. These articles quickly appeared in Iranian newspapers, representing what today would be described as a disinformation campaign organized by the CIA.
After learning about the 1953 coup and the role of foreign intelligence agencies in supporting the Shah for nearly 25 years, it is easier to understand the anger and resentment many Iranians feel toward the United States, Britain, and Israel.
The film “Coup 53” can be streamed on Eventive and Vimeo for $9.99. It features interviews with British and American intelligence officers involved in the operation, providing a rare look at a covert intelligence campaign.
The article also compares the Iranian coup to the overthrow of Guatemala’s president Jacobo Árbenz in 1954. In both cases, leaders were portrayed as communist threats to justify intervention, though evidence for such claims was limited. Similar strategies were used in later coup attempts, including Indonesia in 1958 and Chile in 1973.
Over about two decades, several democratically elected governments were removed during the Cold War in the name of stopping communism. According to the author’s perspective, the main beneficiaries were large multinational corporations, particularly those involved in oil and mining.
President Eisenhower later warned about the growing influence of the Military-Industrial Complex in his farewell address in January 1961.
In summary, the memory of the 1953 coup remains deeply embedded in Iranian society. Many Iranians grew up hearing about it quietly discussed by adults. During the Shah’s rule, fear of SAVAK limited free speech and political freedom. After the 1979 revolution, Iran began supporting groups hostile to the United States and Israel, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
Decades of conflict, funding, and proxy warfare have contributed to ongoing tensions in the region. War, the author concludes, is devastating, particularly for civilians caught in the middle, and hopes the current conflicts will eventually end.
Link to the Times of Israel article:
https://timesofisrael.com/a-generation-ago-israelis-found-paradise-in-iran
Sources:
Sources:
AP News Source
CIA Archive Source
Film:
https://coup53.com/
Link to Eisenhower’s January 1961 speech:
