The CIA Helps Restore the Shah of Iran Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh’s commitment to democracy threatened the authority of Shah Reza Pahlavi, and his nationalization of Iran’s oil alarmed U.S. officials. In 1953, President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to organize a coup against Mossadegh, which its agents did by paying bribes to military and political leaders and staging street demonstrations. Here demonstrators rally in support of the shah.
AP Photo/Aziz Rashki.