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CIA admits role in 1953 Iran coup as files reveal U.K. lobbied U.S. to conceal 'very embarrassing' details

The covert action by MI6 and the CIA toppled Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran’s prime minister. He was replaced by the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlav, an autocratic ruler

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British diplomats tried to convince the United States to suppress “very embarrassing” details of MI6’s role in the 1953 coup in Iran, documents have disclosed.

Wikimedia CC
Wikimedia CC

Previously classified Foreign Office documents from 35 years ago show elaborate efforts by the British embassy in Washington to keep secret Britain’s part in the overthrow of Iran’s democratically-elected Mosaddegh government.

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The covert action in 1953 by MI6 and the CIA toppled Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran’s prime minister, in retaliation for his decision to nationalize British oil assets. Mr. Mossaddegh was replaced by the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlav, an autocratic ruler.

The documents also formally acknowledge the CIA’s role in the coup for the first time.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and President Barack Obama had previously mentioned America’s role in the coup in 2000 and 2009 respectively. But until now, both the CIA and MI6 have denied any official role.

The U.S. academic behind the documents disclosures told London’s Daily Telegraph that six decades after the coup, Britain is still working behind the scenes to hide details of the secret mission known as “Operation Boot”.

Malcolm Bryne, deputy director of the National Security Archive at the George Washington University, said he believed the delay was due to continuous lobbying by British diplomats determined to conceal MI6’s activities. “Sixty years after the coup we are still not able to get a full picture of the role played by British and American intelligence,” he said. “It appears the reason is that history and current politics are intersecting and the British are still reluctant to have their role acknowledged.”

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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images file
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images file

By 1978 the Shah’s government was on the verge of collapse as Iranians protested on the streets. The Foreign Office grew concerned that its own role in installing the Shah would become public and further inflame anti-Western sentiments. Chief among its worries was a plan by historians at the U.S. State Department to release documents relating to the 1953 coup, according to records found by researchers. In a confidential memo from October 1978, one diplomat wrote warned that “if released, there would be some very embarrassing things about the British in them”.

By December a second diplomat had written to London saying that a friendly State Department official had promised “to sit on the papers”. The document shows the embassy approached the historians’ office directly, inquiring how they could keep the files from being made public. The embassy’s efforts appear to have succeeded because the documents were never officially released. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said it was department policy to neither confirm nor deny British involvement in the coup.

In the mid-Nineties State Department historians began work on a history volume on the 1953 coup, which was expected to acknowledge the role of Western spy agencies. The revised volume was completed by 2006 but has still not been made public following British pressure.

The Daily Telegraph with files from the National Post

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