British spy agency MI6’s key role in 1953 coup against Iran’s PM Mosaddeq
Kit Klarenberg | This week marks the 60th anniversary of the military coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 that overthrew Iran’s then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and his cabinet. | Working in tandem, British and American spies waged a devastatingly effective covert campaign using saboteurs, staged protests, false flag bombings, and assassinations, which ultimately put the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on a more brutal and dictatorial footing for the ensuing two and a half decades. ● The coup’s history is fairly well-known - not least because the CIA has openly admitted responsibility for the mass violence and upheaval that unseated Mosaddeq on that fateful day, and many documents outlining its cloak-and-dagger activities during this period are in the public domain. ● Yet, MI6’s central role remains largely unknown. Now, the sordid tale - or, what can be pieced together from an incomplete, thoroughly weeded archival record - must be told.