Oblivious to History - Trump’s Turning Up the Heat on Iran - He Should Look at the 1953 CIA Coup - Summary

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by hdkawk

The text examines how renewed U.S. publication efforts illuminate the 1953 CIA-backed coup in Iran and its surrounding diplomatic record. It argues that newer Foreign Relations of the United States materials address long-standing disputes about the completeness of earlier histories and include declassified CIA documents. The discussion cites scholars on CIA and British involvement, notes official U.S. apologies, and highlights evidence such as debriefing accounts by Kermit Roosevelt, offering clearer context while leaving some operational details limited.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Background: 1953 Operation Ajax and its aftermath

Memoirs and reliability concerns

Updated FRUS release and why it matters

Dispute over documentation completeness

Evidence, scholars’ views, and persisting ambiguities

Records on meetings and debriefings

Oblivious to History,Trump's Turning Up the Heat on Iran.HeShould Look at the 1953 CIA Coup. 删thedailybeast.com/oblivious-to-history-trumps-turning-up-the-heat-on-iran-but-there-are-lessons-in-the-1953- cia-coup 1/30/2017 Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast SHAH ENOUGH So sensitive was this operation that not all documents have been declassified for publicview,even after the passing of almost 64 years. IranWire 06.26.171:00 AM ET In 1979,just as the Shah of Iran was overthrown and the the reign of the ayatollahs began,a former CentralIntelligence Agency operative named Kermit Roosevelt,the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt,published hisfirst-hand account of the covert operation he had led more than a quarter century earlier.Operation Ajax,as it wascalled,ousted the elected government in Tehran and put the previously deposed young monarch,Mohammad RezaPahlavi,back on the Peacock Throne. Roosevelt's book,Counter-Coup:The Struggle for the Control of Iran,made for compelling reading then and it sildoes.But,as often is the case with memoirs,it's not very reliable history.And as President Donald Trump,many in Congress,a new head of Iran operations at the CIA,and the increasingly aggressive Saudis look for ways tooverthrow the government in Tehran,it's useful to look closely at what really did happen in the early 1950s. # Advertisement Interestingly enough,that's precisely what the American government has just done with a project started years agothat came to fruition earlier this month. It's described in the following report by Arash Azizi was published originally on IranWire.com,a partner of The DailyBeast: The United States Department of State has published a much-awaited,newly-updated version of its official history of U.S.-Iran relations during the crucial period of 1951-1954,during and after the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh,who was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup on August 19,1953. The U.S.role in the coup is wellestablished,and 17 years ago then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright issued anofficial apology. Additionally,the CIA released some of its declassified documents relating to the coup in 2013,at the same timeadmitting its official role in the course of events. The new material,which was made public on June 16,is part of a Foreign Relations of the United States'(FRUS)series published by the State Department's Office of the Historian.The publications are legally mandated to portrayan accurate picture of U.S.diplomatic history. The tumultuous U.S.-Iran relations in the early 1950s previously were covered in a volume published in 1989.Butthat volume,which focused on the U.K.'s oildispute with Iran after the latter moved to nationalize the assets of aBritish oil company,resulted in so much outrage due to its failure to include documents pertaining to the U.S.andBritish role in the 1953 coup that it led Congress to take it upon itself to pass new legislation. As the introduction to the new volume states:"In 1991,this reaction prompted the introduction and passage ofCongressional legislation,updating the Foreign Relations statute and affirming the requirement that the ForeignRelations series 'shall be a thorough,accurate,and reliable documentary record of major United States foreign policydecisions and significant United States diplomatic activity." The recently-published material focuses on covert operations carried out by both the Truman and Eisenhoweradministrations in Iran. “Today's release brings some closure to a long-standing dispute over the completeness of the FRUS volume relatedto Iran [between]1951 and 1954,”Siavush Randjbar-Daemi,Professor of Iranian History at the University ofManchester,told IranWire. # Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. # Cheat Sheet A speedy,smart summary of all the news you need to know(and nothing you don't). By clicking "Subscribe,

FAQs

What new information did the U.S. release regarding 1951–1954 U.S.-Iran relations?

The State Department published an updated, newly released version of its official history covering U.S.-Iran relations during 1951–1954, including material tied to the 1953 CIA-backed coup.

How does the release relate to prior controversy about the FRUS volume’s completeness?

The text says the new material brings closure to a long-standing dispute about whether the earlier FRUS volume sufficiently documented events between 1951 and 1954.

What do the cited scholars suggest about CIA involvement in organizing the coup?

The article quotes scholars saying the newly released records largely support the view that both U.S. action and the role of Iranian actors mattered, and that many records were previously locked away for decades.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by hdkawk