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U.S. acknowledgements of the 1953 coup

Statements and releases in which the U.S. government acknowledged a part in the 1953 coup in Iran: Secretary of State Albright in 2000, President Obama in 2009, the CIA’s release of its history in 2013.

5 links, 4 backed by primary records

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Dates
2000–2017

Connections 5

interventions

  • Madeleine Albright 17 Mar 2000 acknowledged the U.S. role in the 1953 coup, 17 March 2000 Primary record 1

involved

  • Madeleine Albright as Secretary of State said on 17 March 2000 that the U.S. “played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow” of Mossadegh Primary record 1
  • Barack Obama said in Cairo on 4 June 2009 that the U.S. “played a role in the overthrow”; his next sentence was about Iran’s hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians Primary record 2
  • Central Intelligence Agency by 2013 had released a version of its internal history that states the agency planned and helped implement the coup Scholarship & press 3
  • United States government the State Department’s 1989 volume on Iran left out the CIA’s role; its 2017 volume covers the covert operations Primary record 4
Timeline 2 dates
  1. 2000–2017 U.S. acknowledgements of the 1953 coup
  2. 17 Mar 2000 Madeleine Albright intervened in U.S. acknowledgements of the 1953 coup
Proof 4 sources
  1. Remarks before the American-Iranian Council, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, 17 March 2000, U.S. Department of State, 17 Mar 2000. Primary record Archived copy
    The Eisenhower Administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons; but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development.
    In 1953 the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh.
  2. Remarks by the President at Cairo University, 4 June 2009, The White House, 4 Jun 2009. Primary record
    In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government.
    Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians.
  3. CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup (Electronic Briefing Book No. 435), National Security Archive, George Washington University, 19 Aug 2013. Scholarship & press
    a version of an internal history that specifically states the agency planned and helped implement the coup.
    dating from the mid-1970s.
  4. Preface, Foreign Relations of the United States, Iran, 1951–1954 (retrospective volume on covert operations), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, 2017. Primary record
    did not provide any documentation on the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the formulation of U.S. policy toward Iran
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