| where_america's_middle_east_problems_began | ||
| bird |
August 18, 1953 The CIA, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sponsors a coup by the Shah of Iran against democratically elected PM/President Mohammed Mossadeq The Shah's dictatorial, repressive rule sparks groundswell of popular outrage, harnessed by followers of exiled Muslim Cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who capitalizes on the Shah's unpopularity and his status as a puppet of the US Government and the American oil industry (more later) |
040428 |