Brief life of Harvard CIA agent who helped install the shah of Iran
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- #CIA History
- #Iran Coup
- #Cold War
- Kermit (Kim) Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, led the CIA's 1953 coup in Iran, overthrowing Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh's semi-democratic government.
- The coup was driven by Cold War fears of Communism and British interests in Iran's oil, despite intelligence suggesting Iran's Communist party was not an immediate threat.
- Roosevelt used bribery, propaganda, and manipulation of public opinion to orchestrate the coup, involving the Shah and causing hundreds of deaths.
- The coup resulted in the U.S. gaining influence in Iran's oil and Middle East leadership for decades, but led to blowback with the 1979 Iranian revolution.
- Roosevelt later participated in other CIA operations in Egypt and Syria, with mixed success, and left the CIA in 1958 for private sector work.
- The U.S. government did not acknowledge the coup until 2000, with Secretary Albright admitting it hindered Iran's political development.