US quietly publishes once-expunged papers on 1953 Iran coup sfgate com world article US-quietly-publishes-once-expunged-papers-on-1953-11256571 php http www sfgate com world article US-quietly-publishes-once-expunged-papers-on-195311256571 php By Jon Gambrell Updated 4 23 pm Thursday June 29 2017 Photo UNCREDITED Associated Press Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh waves to cheering crowds outside parliament in Tehran DUBAI United Arab Emirates — Once expunged from its official history documents outlining the U S -backed 1953 coup in Iran have been quietly published by the State Department offering a new glimpse at an operation that ultimately pushed the country toward its Islamic Revolution and hostility with the West The CIA’s role in the coup which toppled Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh and cemented the control of the shah was already well-known by the time the State Department offered its first compendium on the era in 1989 But any trace of American involvement in the putsch had been wiped from the report causing historians to call it a fraud 1 2 Latest news videos The papers released this month show U S fears over the spread of communism as well as the British desire to regain access to Iran’s oil industry which had been nationalized by Mosaddegh Protests supporting the shah fanned in part by the CIA led to Mosaddegh’s fall It exposes “more about what we know about this milestone event in Middle East history and especially U S -Iran history This is still such an important emotional benchmark for Iranians ” said Malcolm Byrne who has studied Iran at the non-governmental National Security Archive at George Washington University “Many people see it as the day that Iranian politics turned away from any hope of democracy ” The 1 007-page report comprised of letters and diplomatic cables shows U S officials discussing a coup up to a year before it took place While America worried about Soviet influence in Iran the British remained focused on resolving a dispute over the nationalization of the country’s oil refinery at Abadan at the time one of the world’s largest Widespread Iranian anger over the heavy-handed Western intervention lingered for decades and fed into the 1979 revolution when Iranians seized control of the U S Embassy and held those inside captive for 444 days To this day Iran’s clerical leaders portray the U S as a hostile foreign power bent on subverting and overthrowing its government Jon Gambrell is an Associated Press writer 2 2