The CIA funded Islamist clergy to overthrow Mossadegh in 1953
Evidence
The Iranian revolution of 1979 overthrew the US-backed Shah and brought to power Ayatollah Khomeini, who denounced the United States as the “Great Satan.” As mentioned above, Mossadegh, who came to power in the elections of 1951, had nationalized Iran’s oil industry and dealt a blow to British petroleum interests. Initially, the political elite saw Mossadegh as a means to establish greater control over Iran’s oil resources and elbow Britain out. However, when Mossadegh rejected their plan to allow American oil companies into the country, his American would-be friends turned against him. The CIA organized a coup (known as Operation Ajax), relying on the support of the Islamist clergy, particularly Khomeini’s mentor Ayatollah Abolgassem Kashani, who could mobilize large numbers of people from Tehran’s slums against the secular nationalist Mossadegh. Kashani received substantial sums of money from the CIA and had very close ties to it. It was this initial groundwork, laid by the CIA and Kashani, that helped position Khomeini for his role in the 1979 revolution. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 244
Categorization
- XREF: The most consequential irony in the chapter: US covert action against a secular nationalist helped install the clerical network that later overthrew the Shah and became the ‘Great Satan.’ Central to the reader’s psyche-to-state-power thread. — connects to: The US alternately armed and opposed Islamist forces to preserve its regional domination. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 29; US policy was always split between anti-Soviet and anti-Islamist interests — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 220; US imperial interests, not Islamist actions, determine Islamist ally or enemy status — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 278 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- The same Islamist figures who denounced the US conspired with the CIA against nationalists
#expands(0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 370 - US imperial interests, not Islamist actions, determine Islamist ally or enemy status
#corroborates(0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 278 - Sadat’s regime deliberately cultivated Islamist groups against secularist policies
#exemplifies(0.40) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 331