New Info On Complicity of U.S.-U.K. in 1953 Iran Coup

New Info On Complicity of U.S.-U.K. in 1953 Iran Coup

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Recently declassified U.S. State Department documents reveal a complicit nexus of oil interests, the U.K and U.S. governments in the August 19, 1953 coup d’etat that unseated Iran’s Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, and his democratically-elected government. The CIA officially acknowledged its role in August of 2013.

We’ll discuss the events of 1953 and its aftermath with three experts: Ervand Abrahamian, John Limbert, and Mateo Farzaneh. Ervand Abrahamian is a distinguished professor of history at Baruch College and author of the book The Coup. His other works include Tortured Confessions, Khomeinism, and Iran Between Two Revolutions.

John Limbert, distinguished professor of International Affairs at the U.S. Naval Academy, is author of the book Negotiating with Iran: Wrestling the Ghosts of History. Ambassador Limbert holds the State Department’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Award, as well as the Award for Valor as he was held hostage for 444 days in the American embassy in Tehran in 1979. Most recently, he served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran during the Obama administration.

Mateo Farzaneh is an associate professor of history and inaugural principal of The Mossadegh Initiative at Northeastern Illinois University-Chicago. His book, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani, won the National History Honor Society’s Best First Book Award in 2016.

This segment was produced by Steve Bynum.