1953 Iranian coup d'état

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On 19 August 1953 a coup d'état overthrew the Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, strengthening the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. It was instigated by the United Kingdom (MI6), under the name Operation Boot and by the United States (CIA), under the name TP-AJAX Project or Operation Ajax. A key motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after Mosaddegh had nationalized the country's oil industry in 1951. Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (subsequently part of BP), to verify that AIOC was paying the contracted royalties to Iran, and to limit their control over Iranian oil reserves. Upon the AIOC's refusal to cooperate with the Iranian government, the Iranian parliament (the Majlis) voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry (March 1951) and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country. After this vote, Britain instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure...

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