The Shah ruled Iran for 26 years with strong U.S. support.

In the early 1950s, Iran was led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, a nationalist leader who wanted Iran to control its own oil resources.

At the time, most Iranian oil profits went to a British company (the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, later BP). Mosaddegh nationalised the oil industry in 1951 so Iran would receive the revenue.

Britain responded with an oil embargo and began pushing for his removal. Eventually the United States joined the effort.

In August 1953, the Central Intelligence Agency and British intelligence organized a covert operation called Operation Ajax to overthrow Mosaddegh.

The operation involved propaganda campaigns, bribing politicians and military officers and paying protesters and organizing riots.

Mosaddegh was arrested and removed from power, and the monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was strengthened with Western backing.

The Shah then ruled Iran for 26 more years with strong U.S. support.

At the time, the decision was driven by several strategic concerns.

Oil.

Western governments feared losing access to Iranian oil after nationalisation.

Cold War fears.

Washington worried Iran might drift toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Regional influence.

Iran sat in a strategically important location between the Middle East and the Soviet sphere.

From the U.S. perspective, the coup was about protecting Western strategic interests.

From the Iranian perspective, it looked like foreign powers overthrowing a nationalist government for oil and geopolitical control.

After the coup, the Shah built a powerful authoritarian state.

His regime used a feared secret police force called SAVAK, created with support from U.S. and Israeli intelligence.

Many Iranians viewed him as corrupt, repressive and backed by Washington.

This resentment simmered for decades.

Everything changed in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution.

A mass uprising overthrew the Shah and brought the Islamic leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini to power.

Shortly afterward, Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage for 444 days.

From the American side, this was seen as a shocking violation of international law.

From the Iranian revolutionary perspective, it was revenge for 1953 and decades of U.S. interference.

Since the revolution, relations have remained hostile due to Iran’s anti-U.S. revolutionary ideology, U.S. sanctions against Iran, Iran’s nuclear program and conflicts involving Israel and Middle East alliances.

But the memory of the 1953 coup still looms large in Iranian political culture. Many Iranians see it as proof that the U.S. will intervene to control their country’s politics or resources.