nterview with Ervand Abrahamian, professor of history and writer
Democracy Now!
Newly declassified documents confirm that US Supported the 1953 coup in Iran to defend its oil contracts
Recently declassified documents from the US Department of State Show the key role of oil contracts in the Iranian coup in 1953, which was supported by the United States. To overthrow the democratically-elected PM Mohammad Mosaddegh. "The documents show the importance of oil in the coup," says Professor Ervand Abrahamian. "It is commonly believed that the coup was motivated by the Cold War and the fear of the advance of communism, however, what is revealed - only occasionally, when Eisenhower intervenes in a discussion - is that [the coup] was for oil contracts And because the nationalization [of oil] would affect the whole international framework and pose a threat to the oil interests of the United States throughout the world. "
To expand this information we speak with Ervand Abrahamian, retired history professor at Baruch College of the University of the City of New York and author of several books, among them: T he Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern US- Iranian Relations (The coup: 1953, the CIA and the roots of modern relations between US and Iran).
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Of course, oil has always been a central issue of Western policy toward Iran. You have written about some recently published documents dating back to the 1953 coup d'état ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: organized by the CIA against the democratically elected leader of Iran.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Could you talk about that and also why it took so long to publish these documents?
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Well, as you say, this happened a long time ago. And in fact, there is a rule according to which it must be 30 years before the classified documents are made public. These have taken more than three decades to be declassified by the State Department. It has been a long and painful process to get them. And the reason, well, there are actually two reasons: First, the documents show the importance of oil in the coup. It is commonly thought that the coup was motivated by the Cold War and the fear of the advance of communism, however, what is revealed - only occasionally, When Eisenhower intervenes in a discussion - is that [the coup] was for oil contracts and because the nationalization [of oil] would affect the whole international framework and pose a threat to US oil interests around the world. Second, and I believe that this was the main reason they have been so reluctant to publish these documents, it is because they show the extent of the interference of the US Embassy and the US ambassador in Iran's internal affairs. They reveal the action of an imperial power in a semi-colonial situation. The ambassador acts basically like a viceroy, being involved assiduously in several measures of internal politics. He often says, "Of course, it's not my business to get involved in domestic politics." But it does the opposite and, in fact, Gets involved. What struck me most is how the CIA was involved in the elections held in 1952 during the Mosaddegh period; And its strategy to undermine Mosaddegh through Parliament. And how the US Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ... Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ... Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ...
AMY GOODMAN: You are a teacher, and you talk about what you did not know, but most people do not even know what they did know: the deep involvement of the US and the CIA with CIA chief Allen Dulles , Brother of John Foster Dulles ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, and then, of course, was Eisenhower ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... and the others who designed this coup using Teddy Roosevelt's grandson, Kermit Roosevelt ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... like the type of bags, the guy who goes with the money bags and manages to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh, the democratically elected leader.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes. But actually, even about that, it is commonly thought that it was after the Truman administration, with Eisenhower, that the machinery was set in motion for the coup, which was Eisenhower's government, with Kermit Roosevelt and Dulles, the ones who did it. But what these documents show, which is astonishing, is that before Eisenhower, under Truman's rule, there was already a " Deep State" . And the "State in the Shadow" in the CIA were exactly Dulles and Kermit Roosevelt. They were in charge of the CIA's Iranian office since 1951. Long before Eisenhower. So they were pushing for an intervention in Iran before Eisenhower became president.
AMY GOODMAN: And in 1954, a year later, they tried to convince Kermit Roosevelt to do the same thing in Guatemala. Roosevelt refused, but they did it anyway and overthrew the democratically elected leader of Guatemala, [Jacobo] Árbenz.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: And when we hear the current discussions about Russia's interference in our elections, I think it's very important that people understand the history of the United States.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: That's right.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you one last question about The New York Times , which last month gave the name of the so-called "Dark Prince" who handles operations with Iran; Noting his "hard wing" stance . The New York Times revealed that Michael D'Andrea is currently directing CIA operations in Iran. D'Andrea had overseen the search for Osama bin Laden and the US drone attacks campaign, which killed thousands of Islamist militants and hundreds of civilians. What do you think about this and the great anger of the Trump government to know that the role of D'Andera had been revealed?
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: I do not really know the policies behind that. I believe, I repeat, that they are very confused about the steps to take towards Iran - and this is a reflection of it.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wonder if the documents - we have 30 seconds left - you could see the name of Donald Wilhelm, who was the CIA man who went to Iran after the overthrow of Mosaddegh. And that curiously was uncle of the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes, and who anonymously wrote the Shah's memoirs.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yes.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: It would be interesting to know more about your family history. I do not think there are many political discussions between different parts of the family. Wilhelm was a sort of CIA scholar.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we have to leave it here. Ervand Abrahamian, thank you very much for being with us; [Our guest is] a retired history professor at Baruch College at the University of New York City.
Translated by Rubén Gómez. Edited by Igor Moreno and Democracy Now! In Spanish .
Revision history edited by A Wikia contributor.
Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/24/newly_declassified_documents_confirm_us_backed
To expand this information we speak with Ervand Abrahamian, retired history professor at Baruch College of the University of the City of New York and author of several books, among them: T he Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern US- Iranian Relations (The coup: 1953, the CIA and the roots of modern relations between US and Iran).
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Of course, oil has always been a central issue of Western policy toward Iran. You have written about some recently published documents dating back to the 1953 coup d'état ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: organized by the CIA against the democratically elected leader of Iran.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Could you talk about that and also why it took so long to publish these documents?
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Well, as you say, this happened a long time ago. And in fact, there is a rule according to which it must be 30 years before the classified documents are made public. These have taken more than three decades to be declassified by the State Department. It has been a long and painful process to get them. And the reason, well, there are actually two reasons: First, the documents show the importance of oil in the coup. It is commonly thought that the coup was motivated by the Cold War and the fear of the advance of communism, however, what is revealed - only occasionally, When Eisenhower intervenes in a discussion - is that [the coup] was for oil contracts and because the nationalization [of oil] would affect the whole international framework and pose a threat to US oil interests around the world. Second, and I believe that this was the main reason they have been so reluctant to publish these documents, it is because they show the extent of the interference of the US Embassy and the US ambassador in Iran's internal affairs. They reveal the action of an imperial power in a semi-colonial situation. The ambassador acts basically like a viceroy, being involved assiduously in several measures of internal politics. He often says, "Of course, it's not my business to get involved in domestic politics." But it does the opposite and, in fact, Gets involved. What struck me most is how the CIA was involved in the elections held in 1952 during the Mosaddegh period; And its strategy to undermine Mosaddegh through Parliament. And how the US Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ... Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ... Spent a lot of money basically to win over those elected candidates the CIA thought would be more favorable. We did not know this before. This is also seen when the US Raises the need to get rid of Mosaddegh, and analyzes which of the 18 possible candidates would be appropriate to be the next ...
AMY GOODMAN: You are a teacher, and you talk about what you did not know, but most people do not even know what they did know: the deep involvement of the US and the CIA with CIA chief Allen Dulles , Brother of John Foster Dulles ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, and then, of course, was Eisenhower ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... and the others who designed this coup using Teddy Roosevelt's grandson, Kermit Roosevelt ...
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: ... like the type of bags, the guy who goes with the money bags and manages to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh, the democratically elected leader.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes. But actually, even about that, it is commonly thought that it was after the Truman administration, with Eisenhower, that the machinery was set in motion for the coup, which was Eisenhower's government, with Kermit Roosevelt and Dulles, the ones who did it. But what these documents show, which is astonishing, is that before Eisenhower, under Truman's rule, there was already a " Deep State" . And the "State in the Shadow" in the CIA were exactly Dulles and Kermit Roosevelt. They were in charge of the CIA's Iranian office since 1951. Long before Eisenhower. So they were pushing for an intervention in Iran before Eisenhower became president.
AMY GOODMAN: And in 1954, a year later, they tried to convince Kermit Roosevelt to do the same thing in Guatemala. Roosevelt refused, but they did it anyway and overthrew the democratically elected leader of Guatemala, [Jacobo] Árbenz.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: And when we hear the current discussions about Russia's interference in our elections, I think it's very important that people understand the history of the United States.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: That's right.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you one last question about The New York Times , which last month gave the name of the so-called "Dark Prince" who handles operations with Iran; Noting his "hard wing" stance . The New York Times revealed that Michael D'Andrea is currently directing CIA operations in Iran. D'Andrea had overseen the search for Osama bin Laden and the US drone attacks campaign, which killed thousands of Islamist militants and hundreds of civilians. What do you think about this and the great anger of the Trump government to know that the role of D'Andera had been revealed?
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: I do not really know the policies behind that. I believe, I repeat, that they are very confused about the steps to take towards Iran - and this is a reflection of it.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wonder if the documents - we have 30 seconds left - you could see the name of Donald Wilhelm, who was the CIA man who went to Iran after the overthrow of Mosaddegh. And that curiously was uncle of the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: Yes, and who anonymously wrote the Shah's memoirs.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yes.
ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN: It would be interesting to know more about your family history. I do not think there are many political discussions between different parts of the family. Wilhelm was a sort of CIA scholar.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we have to leave it here. Ervand Abrahamian, thank you very much for being with us; [Our guest is] a retired history professor at Baruch College at the University of New York City.
Translated by Rubén Gómez. Edited by Igor Moreno and Democracy Now! In Spanish .
Revision history edited by A Wikia contributor.
Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/24/newly_declassified_documents_confirm_us_backed
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