I have a question

[Maraya1969]

I am still trying to understand the 1953 coup of Iran. Did the US put the Ayatollah Khomeini into power and is he the same person as the Shah of Iran? I see the two names mentioned and I can't understand if the Ayatollah gained control after the coup or did we insert him directly? Thanks.



The coup was a turning point in modern Iranian history and remains a persistent irritant in Tehran-Washington relations. It consolidated the power of the shah, who ruled with an iron hand for 26 more years in close contact with the United States. He was toppled by Iranian Revolution of 1979. Later that year, "Students of Imam Line" went to the American Embassy, took diplomats hostage and declared that they had unmasked a "nest of spies" who had been manipulating Iran for decades.

The Islamic government of Ayatollah Khomeini supported terrorist attacks against American interests largely because of the long American history of supporting the shah's suppressive regime. Even under more moderate rulers, many Iranians still resent the United States' role in the coup and its support of the shah.

http://www.iranchamber.com/history/coup53/coup53p1.php

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Here are some more articles on it

http://www.google.com/custom?q=iran+democracy&sa=Go&cof=T%3Ablack%3BLW%3A370%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2F%3BLC%0D%0A%3Ablue%3BLH%3A75%3BBGC%3Awhite%3BAH%3Acenter%3BVLC%3Apurple%3BGL%3A0%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%3BAWFID%3A558a065e2b806dc5%3B&domains=www.commondreams.org&sitesearch=www.commondreams.org

and no the Shah and Ayatollah are not the same people.

[mcscajun]

2. Get most of the facts here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran

And no, The Shah of Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini were not the same person.

[tanyev]

3. The Shah was our puppet.

The Ayatollah Khomeini was a religious fundamentalist who overthrew him and called us the Great Satan.

[KurtNYC]

4. No

The Shah was put in power in 1953. Khomeni came to power during the revolution in 1979.

Tons of pop-ups but a decent summary of the Palavi coup:
http://www.angelfire.com/home/iran/1953coup.html

Edit: Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi (1919 - 1980) - Educated in Switzerland, he returned (1935) to Iran to attend the military academy in Tehran. He ascended the throne in 1941 after his father, Reza Shah Pahlevi, was suspected of collaboration with the Germans and was deposed by British and Soviet troops. He narrowly escaped assassination (1949) by a member of the leftist Tudeh party, and in 1953 he briefly fled the country after a clash with the supporters of Muhammad Mussadegh. A moderate, the shah launched (1963) a reform program with U.S. assistance called the “White Revolution,” which included land redistribution among citizens, extensive construction, the promotion of literacy, and the emancipation of women. However in the process, the grassroots population became increasingly isolated as wealth, emanating from the oil industry, was unequally distributed among Iranians. The shah faced further criticism from the internal religious clergy, who disfavored his pro-Western policies. As popular discontent grew, particularly in the early 1970s, the shah became more repressive, calling upon his brutal secret police (SAVAK) to put down domestic strife. Massive rioting erupted in Iran, and widespread support for the exiled religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini grew by 1978. On Jan. 16, 1979, Shah Pahlevi fled the country; Khomeini returned to Iran and took control. When in Oct., 1979, Iranian extremists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, they demanded the shah in return for the American hostages being held in the embassy. The shah, however, remained abroad; he died in Egypt in 1980.

[theboss]

5. Wow...history is just not taught anymore

The Shah was the quasi-puppet we installed after the 1953 elections made us nervous. He was ostensibly pro-Western and Anti-Communist, but a brutal oppressor. He was overthrown in 1979 by the Khomeni-led Revolutionaries.

Carter's providing him a safe haven in the US triggered the hostage crisis.

[kentuck]

6. An irony that we overthrew a "democracy" in the Middle East...

to put in a dictator like the Shah...

[Maraya1969]

7. Yes, because that is where the tension between the middle east

and the US started from what I read.

[Debs]

8. I wouldnt call it an irony

Unless you call it a pattern of ironies. We did the same thing, that is overthrew democratically elected regimes and installed dictators, in Guatemala in 54 when we overthrew Jacobo Arbenz, in Brazil in 64 when we overthrew Goulart and in Chile in 73 when we overthrew Salvador Allende, at the time Chile as the longest and stablest democracy in South America. We also invaded the Dominican Republic in 64 to stop a popular movement from reinstalling the democratically elected Juan Bosch, after he was deposed by a military coup