A COLD WAR

Ever wondered why the heads of MI6 are called "M"? Well they aren't. They are called “C”. It all started with Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who signed his docs with a green “C.” This guy was a true legend—a retired Navy man who became the spymaster extraordinaire, famous for his love of gadgets and high-speed Rolls-Royce drives. His dramatic life included cutting off his own foot after a car crash to save his son. MI6 has always been shrouded in secrecy, with its chiefs staying out of the limelight. But thanks to novels and movies, especially those by Ian Fleming, the real-life adventures of these spies have become legendary.

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The election of Eisenhower as U.S. President in Nov 1952 gave the British a new hope that the country might now support their plans to overthrow the Iranian government. Even before Ike took office, they sent Monty Woodhouse, the former chief of MI6 in Tehran, to Washington to start working with the Dulles brothers, soon to be the guys running the U.S.'s overt and covert foreign policy. 

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Mossadegh is more popular than ever. But that isn't going to stop the British from conspiring against him. They decide that next time they try to bring down his government, they will need to find a way to get the mob on their side. Key to their future plans will be General Zahedi and the CIA's Kermit Roosevelt. 

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In July of 1952, eight months after he got back from Washington, and in the middle of fighting Anglo-Iranian in the World Court, Mossadegh paid a visit to the Shah and asked him to relinquish control over the army. The Shah refused. So Mossadegh resigned. The British and the Shah were ecstatic and appointed a new puppet PM who announced a new order - the British would be back in control over the oil and anyone who complained would be arrested. The country erupted in protest. And Mossadegh was re-appointed within days - now with complete control over the army.

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As Mossadegh wins the hearts and minds of Americans and the world, the British re-elect Churchill who considers Mossadegh "an elderly lunatic bent on wrecking his country and handing it over to the communists."

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In October 1951, Mossadegh flew to New York to address the United Nations and then to Washington to meet with Truman. It was the first time the UN was used by a poor, post-colonial country to voice their grievances against Western aggression. He was going toe-to-tow with Britain’s great white hope, Sir Gladwyn Jebb.

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In actual fact, it wasn’t the CIA that came up with the template for using covert action to destabilise and overthrow a country’s government - it was a fascist British Foreign Secretary and the British academics he hired to bring down Mossadegh. The CIA just took that model and employed it - first in Iran, and then over and over and over again. 

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In 1951, the British were planning to invade Iran to re-take control of the country’s oil assets. Meanwhile, there were Nazis on the streets of London. 

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The British PM sends a fascist Catholic member of the British elite, Sir Richard Stokes, to talk to Moss the Boss. Mossadegh says he wants a divorce. As he’s leaving Iran, Harriman meets with the Shah and “suggests” it might be time for Mossadegh to go. 

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Truman sent Harriman to Iran to try to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the tensions with Britain. It did not go well. 

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