After 60 years of secrecy, the CIA finally admitted to masterminding the 1953 coup against democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossedegh that ushered the widely despised U.S.-controlled Mohammad Reza Pahlavi back to power and had a hand in decimating left and progressive forces in Iran.

 

While it has long been known that U.S. and British forces secretly contributed to the overthrew of Mossedegh—who introduced social security systems, land reforms, and, to the horror of the U.S. and Britain, moved to nationalize Iran's oil industry—Monday marked the first time that the CIA publicly acknowledged the full extent of its role.

The independent National Security Archive research institute obtained documents from the CIA's internal history the Battle for Iran, penned in the 1970s, through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to the institute. The documents included discussion of TPAJAX—the U.S.-led and Britain-supported plot to overthrow Mossedegh.