Coup against the elected government

IRANIAN AMBASSADOR to the United Nations (UN) Gholamali Khoshroo, in a letter to the UN secretary general: “Against the backdrop of continuous attempts by previous US administrations to disrupt the course of normal political, social and cultural life in Iran in the past decades, starting with the coup against Iran’s democratically elected prime minister in 1953, the current US administration has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilised conduct of international relations ... . The president and vice-president of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts.”

The facts: While the 1979 US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis colours Americans’ thoughts on Iran, perhaps no event more affects Iranian beliefs about the US than the 1953 coup. The CIA joined the British in fomenting a coup against the elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh. Though initially a failure, street protests fanned by the CIA ultimately pushed Mosaddegh out of power and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The shah, stricken with cancer, abandoned the throne just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. That 1953 coup still fuels mistrust of the US among Iranians.

US President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence have tweeted their support for the protesters, but they have not called for violence or disruptive acts.