In 1953 the CIA conducted a covert operation to overthrow Muhammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected leader of Iran. This was the CIA’s very first mission dedicated to regime change and done in collaboration with British intelligence in order to install a government that was sympathetic to western business interests.  

The consequences of this action were severe and lasting, casting a long shadow. Join us as we unpack the details that led up to the overthrow, the people who played a role in this operation, and the suffering and death that followed. 

SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Chair of the Department of Applied Humanities at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. 

Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor 

SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. 

Works Cited:

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran, 1951-1954

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Central Intelligence Agency (Declassified 1999): Analysis of Iranian Political Situation, 1951

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library: The Creation of the CIA

Office of the Historian: National Security Document 68

Office of the Historian: National Security Act of 1947

Office of the Director of National Intelligence: National Security Act of 1947  

Steven Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men, 2003

Teaching American History: The Long Telegram

The Mossadegh Project: Biography 

The Mossadegh Project: Mossadegh and Truman

Winston Churchill, “The Sinews of Peace Speech, 1947, International Churchill Society