So the coup in Iran remained the centerpiece for the new imperialism. It was only natural that the US embassy in Tehran became a "nest of spies", as it has been dubbed since then, 'mission control center' for all US espionage activity in the Muslim world. The Shah was the most reliable US ally in the Muslim world, along with Turkey's Kemal Ataturk the only Muslim leader who recognized Israel.
[Khamemei.ir]: Did the United States
benefit from the coup d'etat?
[Walberg]:
By reinstating the Shah and overthrowing the elected Prime
Minister in 1953, the US was using Iran as a warning to other countries in the
region to obey the "rules of the game". But the coup was not an overwhelming
success, as subsequent events in Egypt in 1956 and Cuba in 1959 showed.
The CIA was itself aware that the struggle in Iran was far from over. The coup
mastermind, CIA spy Donald Wilber, later wrote that the US actually despised
the Shah, that the coup was badly managed and would come back to haunt the CIA
in Cuba.
And in Iran. The US could not prevent the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. Carter
refused him asylum, and facilitated the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran,
in keeping with the strategy that when a rupture is imminent, it is best to try
to control the outcome; and to create a grateful (and, hopefully, loyal) new
proxy in the Great Game 2 war against communism.
At the same time right next door to Iran, there was another US scheme in full
gear: funding Muslim fighters from around the world to fight in
Afghanistan, defeating the Soviet Union.
The coup thus had very mixed results. Even as the US defeated the Soviet enemy
through the Afghan Islamic jihad next door, Iran had its own Islamic
revolution. President George W.H. Bush's "New World Order" speech in
1991 would soon be parodied by "Bush Junior" in Iraq, and Iran would continue
to gain strength and respect as the new centerpiece for anti-imperialism.
[Khamemei.ir]: How important was the
28 Mordad coup d'etat as a clear sign of US enmity toward popular democracies
and the people of Iran?
[Walberg]:
It stands as one of the 20th century's most infamous example
of the disregard of the US and the West for genuine people's democracy.
At the same time, the US was able to use its "soft power" muscles against the
democratic forces in post-WW2 Europe. Democratic forces were pushed aside
through the bribery of the US-funded Marshall Plan, which undermined
(blackmailed) progressive governments, into towing the line.
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