How the US Turned Iran Into a Dictatorship: The 1953 Coup (Documentary)

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 18:24:43 +0000

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In 1953, Iran is at a crossroads. After decades of interference by foreign powers eager to exploit its oil reserves, the government decides it will throw them out and take control of the country’s wealth. But with the super powers’ Cold War paranoia and thirst for oil, it won’t be easy – especially once the CIA gets involved.

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» SOURCES
Azimi, Fakhreddin. “Harriman Mission” in Encyclopaedia Iranica. https://iranicaonline.org/arti....cles/harriman-missio
Balaghi, Shiva. Silenced Histories and Sanitized Autobiographies: The 1953 CIA Coup in Iran. 2013.
Eisenhower, Dwight. Diaries of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diary Series, Box 1. https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.....gov/research/online-
Fardust, Hussein. “Zohur va soghute saltanate pahlavi, khaterate arteshbode sabeghe Hosein Fardust, jelde aval.” (The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty, Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardust). 1975.
Gasiorowski, Mark. “Coup d’etat of 1332 Š./1953” in Encyclopaedia Iranica. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/coup-detat-1953
Gasiorowski, Mark. “The 1953 Coup D'etat in Iran” in International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Aug., 1987): 261-286.
Kalinovsky, Artemy. “The Soviet Union and Mosaddeq: A Research Note,” in Iranian Studies Vol. 47, No. 3, Special Issue: Iran and the Cold War (May 2014): 401-418.
Mina, Parviz. “Oil Agreements” in Encyclopaedia Iranica. https://iranicaonline.org/arti....cles/oil-agreements-
Shirali, Mahnaz. The Mystery of Contemporary Iran. New York 2017.
Soghomonyan, Hayk. The 1953 Coup in Irian and the Role of Great Britain in it, 2022.
St. Marie, Joseph and Shahdad Naghshpour. Revolutionary Iran and the United States. Low-intensity Conflict in the Persian Gulf. 2016.
Zahrani, Mostafa. “The Coup That Changed the Middle East: Mossadegh v. The CIA in Retrospect” World Policy Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Summer, 2002): 93-99.

»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Research by: Philipp Trzaska, Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound

All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.