1. The First CIA Coup: Oil, Iran, and MI6 (Ep 1)

Summary

Episode Summary: "The First CIA Coup: Oil, Iran, and MI6"

Podcast: The Rest Is Classified
Hosts: David McCloskey & Gordon Carrera
Release Date: November 27, 2024

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Introduction to the 1953 Iranian Coup

In the inaugural episode of The Rest Is Classified, hosts David McCloskey and Gordon Carrera delve into the intricate and clandestine events surrounding the 1953 coup in Iran. This pivotal moment in Middle Eastern history not only reshaped Iran's political landscape but also had lasting implications for global geopolitics.

Historical Context: The Strategic Importance of Iranian Oil

The episode begins by setting the stage in early 20th-century Iran, emphasizing the country's vast oil reserves and the pivotal role of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP) in controlling these resources. Gordon Carrera highlights the strategic significance of the Abadan refinery, which was crucial for the Royal Navy's operations.

Gordon Carrera [07:38]: "Iran had always had a strategic role, you know, where it is in the Middle East, part of the great game for influence between Russia and Britain in the 19th century. But in the 20th century, oil becomes much more important."

Rise of Mohammed Mossadegh and Nationalization of Oil

Mohammed Mossadegh emerges as a central figure—a charismatic and passionate nationalist who champions the nationalization of Iran's oil industry. His ascendancy to Prime Minister in 1951 is portrayed as a response to growing domestic pressures against foreign exploitation.

Gordon Carrera [10:04]: "He's a politician who could also be a kind of passionate speaker, a passionate nationalist pushing for Iran to take control of the oil."

Mossadegh's move to nationalize the oil was immensely popular in Iran but posed a significant threat to British economic interests and the broader geopolitical stability in the region.

British and American Response: The Birth of Operation Ajax

Faced with the challenge of retaining control over Iranian oil, British authorities, under Prime Minister Winston Churchill, initially explore diplomatic and economic pressures. However, as these measures prove ineffective, the decision is made to orchestrate a covert operation to remove Mossadegh.

Gordon Carrera [14:20]: "Operation Boot... they're trying to boot Mossadegh out."

Transitioning from Operation Boot to Operation Ajax, the British intelligence agency MI6 collaborates with the newly established American CIA, led by Allen Dulles. This partnership marks a significant fusion of British espionage expertise with American financial and political clout.

Key Figures: Kermit Roosevelt and MI6 Operatives

Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, is depicted as the CIA's on-ground operative spearheading the coup. His character is portrayed with a mix of aristocratic lineage and unconventional behavior, making him a pivotal yet complex figure in the operation.

Gordon Carrera [20:09]: "Kermit is... a kind of imperial adventurer in many ways."

Monty Woodhouse, a seasoned MI6 officer with a flamboyant personality, complements Roosevelt’s efforts. Their combined expertise and resources are crucial in executing the coup strategy.

Execution of the Coup: Covert Operations and Propaganda

The operation involves a multifaceted approach:

• Economic Pressures: Implementing sanctions and oil boycotts to weaken Mossadegh's support.
• Propaganda Campaign: Spreading misinformation to depict Mossadegh as a communist sympathizer, thereby polarizing public opinion.
• Support Assets: Utilizing influential local families like the Rashidian brothers to mobilize street action and create chaos.

Gordon Carrera [27:07]: "They can get mobs out on the street. And that's kind of the plan, isn't it?"

The hosts discuss the psychological tactics employed, including the manipulation of media and exploitation of existing political instability within Iran.

Climactic Moments: The Failed Attempt and Rising Tensions

As the operation unfolds, tensions escalate. Kermit Roosevelt's undercover activities, characterized by his unorthodox methods and heavy drinking, add a layer of unpredictability to the mission. The dramatic climax occurs when Mossadegh announces on the radio that a coup attempt has failed, leading to the Shah fleeing the country in panic.

Gordon Carrera [40:59]: "Mossadegh is there and he's on the radio saying, 'I have been victorious over a coup attempt led by the Shah and foreign elements.'"

This moment signifies a temporary setback for the coup plotters, highlighting the fragile nature of their plans amidst Iran's volatile political environment.

Legacy and Long-Term Implications

The episode concludes by reflecting on the long-term consequences of the 1953 coup. The overthrow of Mossadegh and the reinstatement of the Shah set the stage for future unrest, culminating in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The hosts underscore how this historical event fostered deep-seated animosities towards Western powers in Iran, sentiments that persist to this day.

Gordon Carrera [06:18]: "It's a story worth telling... it's hugely important in Iran. It shapes Iran, it shapes the Middle East."

Notable Quotes

• Gordon Carrera [10:04]: "He's a passionate speaker, a passionate nationalist pushing for Iran to take control of the oil."
• Gordon Carrera [14:20]: "Operation Boot... they're trying to boot Mossadegh out."
• Gordon Carrera [27:07]: "They can get mobs out on the street. And that's kind of the plan, isn't it?"
• Gordon Carrera [40:59]: "Mossadegh is there and he's on the radio saying, 'I have been victorious over a coup attempt led by the Shah and foreign elements.'"

Conclusion

Episode 1 of The Rest Is Classified offers a comprehensive exploration of the 1953 CIA-MI6 orchestrated coup in Iran. Through detailed narration and insightful analysis, McCloskey and Carrera illuminate the complexities of espionage, the intricate dance of international politics, and the enduring impact of covert operations on modern geopolitics. This episode sets a promising tone for the series, promising listeners an in-depth journey into the shadowy world of spies and espionage.

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Additional Information

For more insights into the world of espionage, subscribe to The Rest Is Classified on your preferred podcast platform and stay tuned for upcoming episodes that continue to unravel the secrets behind the greatest espionage stories in history.

Transcript

[David McCloskey]

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[Gordon Carrera]

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[Kermit Roosevelt]

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[Gordon Carrera]

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[David McCloskey]

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[Kermit Roosevelt]

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[Gordon Carrera]

A frock coated attendant appeared with tiny glasses of vodka and caviar canapes. Then the Shah motioned me to seat myself. He said to me, I owe my throne to God, my people, my army, and to you. By you he meant me and the two countries, Great Britain and the United States, that I was representing, we were all heroes. Now, I must say, sadly, that is no longer true. What was a heroic story has gone on to become a tragic story. Those are the wise words of the wonderfully named Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Teddy Roosevelt, who is a CIA officer and the on the ground operational chief of a 1953 coup in Iran, recalling those crazy events for his memoir.

That's right. Welcome to the Rest is Classified. Today we're telling the story of the 1953 coup in Iran, regime change in the Middle east engineered by the CIA and MI6. And David, I guess like our podcast, that was an Anglo American joint venture.

[David McCloskey]

That's right.

[Gordon Carrera]

And I think before we go any further, we should introduce the podcast. This is the Rest Is Classified. It's a new show from Goal Hangar. They'll bring you stories from the secret world of spies and espionage. I'm David McCloskey. I'm a former CIA analyst. I worked for about 10 years at the CIA at headquarters in Langley and in the Middle East. I worked in field stations around the world. I wrote for the President's Daily Brief. And I transitioned from writing spy stories inside the espionage business to writing stories about the espionage business. I now write a series of spy novels that try to deal really authentically with the world we're talking About. Gordon.

Yeah, I'm Gordon Carrera. I've spent about 25 years covering the world of spies and secrets as a journalist from the outside, I guess from events like September 11, 2001, the 911 attacks, through the war in Iraq, through poisonings of Russian spies like Alexander Litvinenko and Sergey Skripal, as a journalist, watching it, understanding it, talking to spy chiefs to agents on the ground and traveling around the world to cover it. I've also written books about the history of espionage, including on MI6, on Russian Deep cover spies, and even about pigeons who acted as spies.

And I think on this podcast, Gordon, we're really going to look at espionage stories from all over the world, past and present. We'll look at things like the role of the CIA in Watergate up to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. We'll look at classic stories about cold warriors and double agents. And we'll also look at how the North Korean security services rob banks. So this is going to be the broadest possible view of the greatest stories in the world of espionage.

And so it's a chance really to explore those and give those who are listening a chance to understand what really goes on on the inside. Not just the kind of the myths about spies or the fictional representation, but a view of what's really involved in the secret world and in spying and what lies behind some of these stories, which is often more extraordinary and crazier, I think, than the fiction, isn't it?

Any operation has an above the line and a below the line. And we are definitely going to get you below the line into the very classified pieces of what actually happened.

So that's enough backstory. Let's get on with today's show. The CIA MI6 backed Iranian coup of 1953 and why this is a story worth telling.

Well, it is. And it's got skullduggery and Cold War, you know, sort of dirty tricks, which I'm always a fan of. But it's also got, I think, a real resonance today, which is really interesting.

And I think that's the reason why it's such an important story. It's not that well known, I think, in the US and uk, but it's hugely important in Iran. It shapes Iran, it shapes the Middle East. It also shapes the way Iran thinks about Britain and America. I mean, when you hear them shout death to America and talk about the Great Satan and the Little Satan, it's Britain and America. And they're really talking about what happened in this coup as being a kind of prime reason for that. That's a kind of enmity to our countries.

At the CIA, we used to say that Iranians believe in conspiracy almost as much as they do in God and poetry. And so I think it has this wonderful resonance today. I mean, interestingly enough, this operation is not really discussed all that much at the CIA today. And yet in Iran, I mean, you can find articles that are written every year, sort of retrospectives on it. I had dinner in Texas with a few Persians a few months ago. There are Persians in Texas? Many, actually. And out of nowhere they brought up this coup. Yeah, so it holds, I think, a real weight in the Iranian consciousness today.

I went to Iran a few years back and I remember sitting with the British ambassador in the embassy. And the embassy is one of those kind of crazy places, walled compound and then these huge gardens inside. And the point of the story is really that the Iranians think the Brits are behind everything bad that happens and that we actually manipulate the Americans, not just in this coup, but ever since. And so they have this kind of outsized view of what Britain is capable of. And I remember asking the ambassador about this and he said, well, it's nice to be in a country where they think we matter. And I think that was his response to this. So let's get into the story. So the story is about oil. And you hear this from conspiracy theorists and people who are. Everything that happens in the Middle east, everything Britain and America do, is about oil.

But it's actually true.

But it's actually, in this case, it's true in lots of other cases, like the war in Iraq, it's not really true, but here it really is. Iran had always had a strategic role, you know, where it is in the Middle east, you know, being part of that kind of great game for influence between Russia and Britain in the 19th century. But in the 20th century, oil becomes much more important and Iran has got tons of it. And Abadan, this key site in Iran, becomes the largest oil refinery in the world. And it is run by the Anglo Iranian, or Anglo Persian Oil Company, which is now bp.

Bp, yeah, that's right.

And it's a huge facility and a really important facility, both to the company and to the country, to the uk.

And it's producing essentially the entirety of the Royal Navy's oil needs.

Yeah.

And providing it at a discount, is that right? I mean, I think Churchill had this great line where when he was talking about Iran, he called it, and specifically, it's oil a prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams. Right. So it's immense strategic importance.

Yeah. And it's supposedly shared with the Iranians. But the Iranians.

But not really.

But not really. The Iranians don't get to see the books about where the money is going. A lot of it goes to the Treasury, a lot of it goes to the company. It's also a kind of colonial enterprise. I mean, I saw some videos from, I think, the period of the 40s and 50s, and the expat Brits are in swimming pools and living this lovely life and they're trying to encourage people to go out there. And meanwhile, the Iranian workers are kind of living in mud huts and working in pretty terrible conditions. So it is not a happy place for Iran to see its wealth basically going over to Britain.

Right.

So by the time you get to the early 50s, the pressure within Iran to do something about this is growing. It comes to a head because the oil company is not really willing to change its terms. It's not really willing to compromise about what it gives. I mean, the Foreign Office aren't very happy with the oil company. They call the boss of it a complete totalitarian because he's so unwilling to compromise. And so as the pressure builds, you get a key moment. 1951, with a new leader in Iran who's pushing for nationalization of oil.

And he's, I guess talk about him here, Mohammed Mossadegh. But I mean he's sort of drafting off of this energy coming off of the Second World War for sort of throwing off the colonial shackles.

[David McCloskey]

Right?

[Gordon Carrera]

I mean there's, there's nationalism throughout. The entire region is really on the rise. So this guy Mossadegh, I mean, where does he, where does he kind of come from? What's his position in Iran?

By this point he's already getting on a bit. He was born in 1882, so he's quite an elderly aristocratic figure, well educated, educated in Europe. Tall, slumped shoulders hang dog face. But he was a politician who could also be a kind of passionate speaker, a passionate nationalist pushing for Iran to take control of the oil. The Brits hate him. They see him as a kind of cunning, slippery figure, you know, and he's.

And he hates the British too, doesn't he?

He really hates the British.

Really hates the British, yeah.

And so it's mutual. And I mean the Brits kind of say he's always ill and when people go to meet him he's in bed in his pajamas. So he's a pajama clad weeper, as someone puts it. So they portray him as this kind of populist revolutionary. I mean, on the other hand, he's also romanticized by his supporters as this kind of great liberal democratic figure.

The CIA documents actually from back then refer to him as an impractical visionary and poor administrator. Among all the redactions, they left that one unredacted.

So that's what they think.

Solidly negative view of the man coming out of Washington and London.

But he becomes prime minister in 1951. Oil is going to be nationalized, so they're taking over the company and he's.

Man of the Year. He's Time magazine Man of the Year.

He quite likes the Americans. The Americans kind of quite like him. They describe him as a kind of George Washington figure. So he's partly seen in America as this kind of nationalist figure who's throwing off the colonial shackles. But in Britain, it's fair to say they've got a problem with him.

Well, I think we should pause here for a second to just think about what Iran looked like back then because I think it's fair to say it doesn't really resemble at all the Iran of today, does it?

No, that's right, because we think of Iran today as this kind of theocratic state run by the mullahs. And at that point it's a much more complex, fluid country. You've got the Shah, the, effectively the monarch as ruling the country, but beneath him you've got a semi functioning democracy, effectively with a parliament. You've got bizarre, you've got merchants, you've got Liberal Democrats, you've got nationalists, you do have religious groups as well. You've got quite extremes of poverty. But it's communists, some communists as well, and workers, including the oil refinery. So it is a more fluid country than I think we see today. And that explains, I think, some of the instability which is at the heart of this story.

That's right. I think it's fair to say this story is happening at a point where all of those different groups and factions are sort of trying to work out what Iran is actually going to look like in the future. So basically, they nationalize Anglo Iranian Oil Company. Right? They nationalize it. It's very popular in Iran. Yep. And we also have, and this will be an important part of the story, the Shah. Yeah, but the Shah really doesn't have a choice, does he? He goes along with this move, I guess it's extremely popular and it's going to add more money to Iranian state coffers. So he goes along with it.

So the Shah and Mossadegh are kind of tussling for power at this point. And Mossadegh's nationalization of oil is so popular, the shark really can't do much about it.

This really isn't the iran of the 70s that is a fully authoritarian police state, is it? I mean, there's a lot more competition for the way this government's going to be set up.

You know, it has got a kind of democratic parliament. So Britain's now got this problem. It's obviously not willing to let all this oil go into Iran's coffers and all the money coming from it. The British treasury is kind of broke.

After the Second World War, money problems.

Like today, the treasury needs every penny it can get and it's not willing to let it stand. And then in 1951, Churchill is back as Prime Minister, a man, it's fair to say, with a strong vision of empire and who is not the type to want to see Iran disappear from Britain's influence. So they've got this question about what they're going to do about it. They look at diplomacy, they look at a legal case. Doesn't seem to be working or getting.

Them Anywhere an invasion is considered.

An invasion is considered. So full, you know, either occupying Abadan, the oil fields, or even the full. The full.

Wow. Land war in the Middle East.

Land war in the Middle east, yes.

The siren song is calling them.

But they managed to resist that. And instead the option is covert action and pressure. It's too.

I find this appealing. I find this option appealing.

This is where what becomes known as Operation Boot comes in. I mean, the name tells you what they're trying to do. They're trying to boot Mossadegh out. So that's the idea of it.

And. On the nose.

On the nose. And so it's a campaign of kind of overt pressure, sanctions, boycotts of Iranian oil, but also working behind the scenes to undermine him and get him dismissed from office.

And although it's MI6 that ends up sort of running with this, the idea doesn't originate in the spy service.

No, it seems to be the Foreign Office, which is interesting. It's sometimes the case that MI6 is seen as the one always, you know, plotting this stuff. And actually it's often the political masters or the Foreign Office who are giving them the instructions.

Also the case in the States, too. Yeah, I would say.

And there's a kind of colorful cast of characters. Weirdly, a lot of the people seem to be academics, which is kind of interesting. I don't know what it tells you, but Robin Zayner is one of the first one who was a kind of experienced figure from MI6, who'd worked a lot in Tehran during the war. Kind of crazy figure who is an American, said a man with an extraordinary capacity to combine high thought with low living, which is quite a description.

It does remind me of the sort of CIA profile for hiring at the time, which was essentially, they were looking for PhDs who could win bar fights. That's more or less what they were looking for in the early years of the Cold War.

So Zainer is a guy who at once is kind of experimenting with opium and then leaves Iran in 1952 to go back to be professor of Eastern Religions at Oxford that year. So there you go. So there you go. There you go. Replacing him is another guy called Monty Woodh House, another great British name, Flaming red beard, Winchester and Oxford classicist, who, rather than becoming an academic, goes into Special Operations Executive during the war in Greece. And he's really the one who comes up with Operation Boot to get Mossadegh out. Now, the problem is the Iranians are kind of onto the Brits and what they're up to in the pressure campaign. So in October 52, they shut the British Embassy and they basically kicked the British out. So at that point, the kind of plans for the Brits to do regime change are effectively over. They have no one on the ground to do it. So what do they do?

What do they do? And you know, Gordon, we've made it a decent way into this podcast, much to my dismay, without mentioning the American security services. But we're going to get there now, right, because essentially the British plan, they're going to go to Washington and try to convince the Americans to get involved.

Yeah, because they need the Americans at this point. The UK has got agents on the ground, it's got a network, but it can't run them anymore. It's also fair to say they need the CIA's people on the ground and they need the CIA's money, frankly, because they think it's going to take some money to do this. And I think as well, it's kind of interesting moment to think about the relationship between the two spy services at this point, because MI6 is the established one and CIA are the newcomers.

Well, I actually think the arrangement here of British, essentially, MI6 networks in Iran, know how on how to operate in the country, plus sort of the CIA's kind of political heft and the money is a great, you know, microcosm of the relationship at the time, because the agency, I mean, at this point is, you know, the Directorate of Operations, which was then called the Directorate of Plans, is one year old at this point in time. The CIA was founded in 1947. I mean, this is a young organization. The Americans don't have a lot of experience, frankly, with on the ground spying in the Middle east and they've learned all of the trade craft from the Brits. Yeah, right. And there's an incredible fusion of the two services during the Second World War. So I think this partnership, it fits together very naturally, doesn't it, to undertake regime change in the Middle East?

Well, I think at this point there's also a little bit of tension because I think the Brits know the Americans are the kind of rising power. And I mean, there's a great big.

Isn't it? You have to go to Washington.

Yes, go to Washington for help. I mean, there's a famous scene, so 53, which is when the coup is also when Ian Fleming writes Casino Royale, when the book comes out, the first James Bond book. And there's a scene in that where Bond is trying to bankrupt his adversary at the baccarat table. And he's run out of money. And so Felix Leito, or the American spy, basically slides over an envelope with, you know, with all the money that he needs to do it. And I think that's emblematic of how Britain felt at the time. It's like, well, we know how to do it, but we kind of need the Americans. They're the cash machine, you know, for us to do it. And there is a bit of a feeling here where the Britain Brits are like, we want to get rid of Mossadegh, and we're going to need to get the Americans to help us to do it.

And they have to sell that in a particular way, don't they?

Which is where Monty comes in and Monty goes to Washington. And, you know, they realize that saying, we just want our oil money is not going to kind of necessarily work with the best sell. And the best sell is Communism. Communism, Communism and the Cold War.

Because right now we've got Allen Dulles running the Central Intelligence Agency, don't we?

Yep.

He's a cold warrior. Yep. You know what's funny is this story when we get to. To these CIA guys, none of these guys would be allowed in the door today. You know, they were drunk all the time. Allen Dulles, I believe he was having an affair with the Queen of Greece.

Okay.

Around this time. And had, you know, maybe 100 mistresses throughout his. Yes, yes.

So these guys running the CIA.

These guys are not passing polygraphs today.

Okay.

But they're running the entire organization in the 50s. And there's also, I guess, another wonderful character here, which is Kermit Roosevelt.

Yeah, let's deal with the name.

Now, he goes by Kim sometimes, but I think for our purposes, we should call him Kermit.

Yeah. Because, I mean, this is before the Muppets, we should say. So it's not a name. It's not a name associated with Kermit the Frog. It's a real name, I guess it's one of those American names. And as you said earlier, he's Teddy Roosevelt, the former president's grandson. So a kind of aristocratic figure, kind of, in American terms, at least, from a big political dynasty.

Yeah, well, he is kind of the Eastern establishment, I think, in many ways. Although anyone listening to this who is picturing Teddy Roosevelt, you know, with the large, you know, very virile mustache and sort of adventuring, this guy looks like an insurance salesman, I think. Now, as we'll see, he's quite bold, he's quite adventurous. He's sort of an imperial adventurer in Many ways, I think. But he looks, you know, he's got kind of a puffy face and thinning hair. He is an entirely unassuming looking character.

Another ex academic, I think you've been on the.

And another ex academic. He's a Harvard academic.

That's right, yeah. And there's a great quote from a Brit who knew him here. He was a courteous, soft spoken Easterner with impeccable social connection. Well educated rather than intellectual. Pleasant and unassuming as host and guest. An especially nice wife. In fact, the last person you'd expect to be up to the neck in dirty tricks. And that's a quote from Kim Philby, who knew him. So that's who you want a recommendation from is Kim Philby. So Kermit is.

Kermit comes up with a plan.

Kermit comes up with Monty. Yes, Kermit and Monty have now got the plan, which is. Which the Americans call Ajax.

Ajax, which is a slightly better name.

Yeah, better than Boot.

Better than Boot.

Better than Boot.

And they actually call it, in other documents it is TP Ajax. TP is the diagram which means Iran. So that's the code for an Iran operation. TPA Jacks back then. Yeah. And it's changed since, of course. But TPAJAX is how it's christened. And all the cables. That's right.

So the Brits have got the Americans on board by talking communism. Kermit's been appointed the field commander and by the time we get to July 1953, Kermit is on his way into Iran to organize the coup.

That's right. And we probably should say, because we mentioned communism.

Yeah.

Do they have a point? Does Monty have a point when he comes to Washington and argues that this is all sort of an attempt to prevent Tehran from falling into the Soviet axis?

Well, there is Tudor, which is a kind of Communist party, which is out on the streets and has some support in Iran. But Mossadegh is no communist. He's a kind of nationalist rather than a communist. So I think the idea that they're worried about Soviet influence and the Soviets getting the oil. Yeah, I mean, there's a bit of worry, but I think it is a bit of a play by the Brits as well. And I think the Americans probably also know that, don't they?

Maybe. And I guess we also have Eisenhower in office at this point, more of a Cold Warrior, more interventionist than Truman. And we have CIA guys who are, I think, excited frankly to get in the field and make something happen. So maybe on July 19, 1953, with Kermit on the way to Tehran. We'll take a break and come back and see what he gets up to.

Sounds good. This episode is brought to you by.

[Kermit Roosevelt]

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[David McCloskey]

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[Gordon Carrera]

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[Kermit Roosevelt]

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[Gordon Carrera]

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[Gordon Carrera]

Well, we're back with Kermit Roosevelt. We're in Tehran in July of 1953. Kermit is there. He is planning a coup. He's got bags of cash and he's ensconced in a villa calling himself James Lockridge.

That's right. And he's supposed to be undercover as James Lockridge, but he plays tennis with other. Other expats and diplomats. And every time he misses a shot, he curses himself and says, oh, Roosevelt, which is his real name. So it's. And then when people ask why, he goes, well, I'm such a passionate Republican that I hate Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat. And so, yeah, use the name as a curse word. I mean, that's not good cover, is it, David?

It's pretty rough. It's pretty rough. Although I will say that being wasted on lime rickies and playing tennis, that's just a normal CIA operation.

Is that what you did in the Middle East?

Exactly.

Can you confirm that?

Seems very normal. So Kermit's there now, he's brought money, is that right? To kind of throw around. But it's maybe less than we would think to accomplish the overthrow of a government, is that right?

Yeah, I mean, some of the estimates said that he can do it for $100,000, something like that. I mean, it seems crazy, doesn't it, to think that's all it costs for the coup? I mean, the estimates vary, but that's basically bribe money. That's right, that he's got.

I thought this was also very interesting. I was not aware of this before we started to dig in there. He actually takes over MI6's networks in Iran, doesn't he? Which is, you know, I actually can't think of a modern parallel where you don't have a joint. I mean, it's a joint effort. But he doesn't have Brits on the ground with him. He's there. He's taken over the British network. The British network, exactly.

Yeah, exactly. And it's the key part of this network are a group of brothers, the so called Rashidian brothers. And this is a family, a very wealthy family. Their father made a fortune. They're very influential with the kind of bizaris and the merchants, the elites. And these are the kind of Brits guys on the ground. And they've been paying them £10,000amonth at one point, which is, I mean, in those days, a lot of money for them. And the idea is that they then have this wider network across the country which they can activate. But of course, because the Brits have been booted out of the country. They can't run it anymore. So even though these. I don't think they're that keen on the Americans, but the Brits basically hand them over to the Americans and say, you know, now you guys are going to work together.

I think in today's parlance, we call these guys support assets. Right. So these are not. They don't have insight into what Bossadek is doing necessarily. They don't. They don't operate inside the military. They don't know what the Shah is up to. But they can essentially get things done in Tehran. They can get mobs out on the street. And that's kind of the plan, isn't it? It's to turn the temperature up on Mossadegh.

Yeah. And that's the heart of Ajax, is a propaganda and a kind of psychological campaign against Mossadegh and the country and the population as a whole to increase the pressure, turn up the temperature on the streets, as you said, with violence. Use propaganda to suggest Mosaddegh is a communist or is pro communist, effectively to kind of polarize the country and to make people think. Well, either on one side it's Mossadegh and the communists and on the other side is the Shah. And to use that to force people, if you like, to turn against Mossadegh and towards the Shah and then use that pressure to get the Shah to dismiss Mossadegh and then install the kind of classic strongman, a General Zahidi, in his place and then basically bribe the military and parliament to support that process and not get in the way.

But this might just be because I'm a former CIA man, but it's fair to say that Tehran at this point in time is not a stable place. I mean, the Shah. There was an attempted assassination on the Shah a couple of years ago. There's been assassinations of Iranian politicians kind of in the run up to this, not by CIA and MI6. There's been a tremendous amount of street action. This isn't a stable democratic system.

No politics is very unstable.

The CIA and MI6 are sort of overthrowing, which I think is a bit of the cartoon that we get now of this story. Right. But this is a very volatile environment that The CIA and MI6 are in the middle of. And I think it's fair to say that they're maybe adding fuel to a fire that's already burning and guiding it. Starting it. And they're guiding it.

Yeah, and they're guiding it. I think that's right. And so they have this plan which is effectively to get rid of Mossadegh. But the key figure in this is the Shah Mohammad Reza. The idea is he is going to sign decrees dismissing Mossadegh and installing Zahidi, this strongman.

Which is legal.

Which is technically legal. You're right. Yeah, it's technically legal. He is allowed to do it. He's the Shah. It's a kind of constitutional monarchy in which he does have that power. I mean, it's worth getting, I think, a little bit into the character of the Shah. I mean, he's in his 30s, was in the shadow of his father, been a bit of a playboy and a kind of mix of insecurity and a sense of his own importance and destiny.

Helpful combination.

Yeah. And I think that combination is part of the problem. So he's kind of reluctant to get involved because Mossadegh is popular and he knows that. And so the challenge they've got is how to persuade him to act. And so they bring in a procession of people to see him, to persuade him, try to influence him, to try influence him. And so, first of all, there's his twin sister, who's slightly domineering, I think, and who's living on the French Riviera in exile, as one does. As one does. And then my six officer goes out with a mink coat and a bag of cash, and the CIA officer goes out and I think flirts with her to try and persuade her, and she goes back, but she can't persuade her brother to sign the decrees. One of the Rashidian brothers goes to see the Shah. That doesn't work. They send a guy called General Norman Schwarzkopf. And now some people might recognize that name because his son, also called General Norman schwarzkopf, does the 1991 Gulf War, leaves the Gulf War in 1991, but he goes to see the Shah and it still doesn't work. So at this point, there's no choice for Kermit but to break cover effectively.

That's right.

And go see the Shah himself.

And interestingly, the CIA assessments at that time will describe the Shah, and this is almost 30 years before the revolution. That will bring him down as lacking moral courage. Yeah, There's a sense of he's not able to clearly kind of act, is he? In this. In this case?

Yeah. And I think going to see him is a big deal for. For Kermit, isn't it? Because, I mean, for a CIA officer to go and visit the Shah, I mean, that. That is. I mean, to some extent, if you get spotted. That's showing your hand, isn't it?

Well, he's been living as James Lockridge, playing tennis in a villa in north Tehran. It's extremely risky, but I guess he felt that they needed to show in an unambiguous way that Washington and London were behind him. Right. And Kermit is probably the right messenger in that sense. Bring someone into Tehran to talk to the Shah.

But it is risky because if he's spotted, then it kind of shows that the American hand is there conspiring. But it's midnight on Saturday, August 1, and a car picks up Kermit, takes him from his home. He goes on the backseat, he lies down on the back of the car and they pull a blanket, blanket pulled over him, you know, trying to be covert. A sentry waves him through. The car stops just in front of the palace and a man walks up to the car, opens the door and slides in beside him and says, good evening, Mr. Roosevelt. I cannot say that I expected to see you, but this is a pleasure. And it's His Imperial Majesty the Shah. I mean, so there they are for the first time meeting. What do you think they're talking about? How's he persuading the Shah to sign those decrees?

Well, we have Kermit's memoir, right, which is very self serving kind of piece of propaganda, but we don't actually know because the CIA has declassified pieces of this story about a decade ago. But you look at those documents and much of it is still not declassified, it's still redacted, right. Blacked out or just white pages that have come out of the archives. So we have to speculate a little bit. And I think though, what is true and what is a fact is that in the decade after this coup attempt, the Americans will pump almost a billion dollars into the Shah's regime. So he becomes the sort of client that we think of on the cusp of the 1979 revolution. I think it's fair to say that Kermit probably hints at some of this and that he'll become sort of America's guy in the Middle east if we can get rid of Mosaddegh and sort of resolve this political crisis. So I think hints of that, certainly some cash to sort of buck him up in the near term. And the other piece of this, which I think is quite interesting, is that Mossadegh has been really attempting to purge the military of the Shah's supporters. And I think getting rid of somebody who's kind of infecting this key institution is probably also really critical to the Shah.

Yes. If you're the Shah, you're thinking, I can get the Americans on board supporting me. And I also don't want them not supporting me. So there's a kind of implicit threat there as well, which is I want their backing. These are the rising powers, as you know, in the Middle east, as the US now. So I guess that conversation is the key to it.

Kerman has to establish his bona fides, right. That he's not freelancing.

Yeah. And this is fascinating, I think, because one of the things they do is he wants to show that he's operating on behalf of the US and the uk, officially of Eisenhower and Churchill. And so he tells the Shah that the fact that this is official will be confirmed by a code word or that the Shah will be able to hear on the BBC, and that Churchill, this is, according to Roosevelt's account, had arranged for the BBC to end its broadcast on one of the subsequent nights, not by saying the usual phrase, it is midnight, but instead it is now exactly midnight with the pause.

I thought the BBC was an independent, you know, constitution, free media. I thought it was above dirty tricks.

Gordon, this is now, let's deal with that. I knew that would come up. Hang on. There is a history of this, okay, because if you go back to World War II, right, massage personnel, do you know, these ones which were sent out to people like the French Resistance on the ground. And so you'd have, at the end of a broadcast in the French language, which the BBC was broadcasting into Europe, they say, it's now time for personal messages. And they would say something like. Like, Jean, the bird is in the cage and the key is ready for it to be open. And that would be a coded message to someone in the French Resistance to say, you know, the drop is coming, you know, by aircraft tomorrow night, and they would understand the code. So there is this history of the BBC using coded messages, but I have to say it is quite surprising it's used here in the Cold War period in the Middle East. And I mean, there is, I should say, kind of bit of tension between Iran and the BBC still ongoing. And I think, you know, part of the problem is it's seen as this kind of state broadcaster, which it's not, but in this period it was being used, it looks like, to send coded messages to the Shah, effectively, you know, a direct message to the Shah.

And so the Shah sort of says, who presumably could be aware of this, the use of the BBC during the second World War. The Shah basically says, okay, let's hear it.

Yeah.

He decides, quite reasonably, to leave Tehran and go up to his hunting lodge. And Kermit gets wasted. Is that right?

So basically, Kermit eventually persuades. It takes a few nights, actually, for Kermit to kind of work on the Shah and to get him there. But eventually he gets him there and persuades him. You're going to sign the decrees and we're going to dismiss Mossadegh, put in Zahidi. The plan looks like it's going to be quite straightforward.

It's legal.

It's legal. It's interesting because the Shah says, I'll do it, but when it happens, I want to be out of town, you know, I mean, which tells you something.

About lacking moral courage.

Lacking moral courage. I mean, you know, he says, I'm going to be up at my hunting lodge at the Caspian when this happens because I don't want to be in the city when it goes down.

There's a certain logic to that, I suppose.

Yeah, there's a logic to that. But it's not exactly owning your decision, is it?

No.

I mean, so finally it looks like it's on. Kermit and his team start drinking, I mean, pretty heavily, it seems like, which seems to be a theme of their time in Tehran.

Well, we do need to talk about this at some point. I mean, there's several different binges in this story, but the extent of the drinking I was not aware of. Just. It is part of the operation. How much do you think they were actually having?

Well, I mean, you know, he says he stayed up drink on a drinking binge until 5am And, I mean, this is Kermit himself in his kind of slightly crazy memoir, you know, admitting it. So he's not embarrassed about it, but they were just knocking back, I think, vodka and lime.

I suppose if I was in the middle of coup planning, I might have 20 drinks at night, too.

Yeah.

Keep your mind fertile as you navigate, you know, Tehrani conspiracies.

Yeah. But at this point, you know, they think it's on. The idea is the decrees are gonna get signed. The problem is the courier with the decrees that have got to get signed turns up late at the palace. And the Shah's already gone up to the Caspian to his hunting lodge. So they get Col. Nasiri, who is the head of the imperial bodyguard, which is a great title and future head.

Of the Shah's secret police, and they.

Get him to fly up to the Caspian. It's now the afternoon of August 13 gets the decrees signed, turns up, but there's storms, so he can't fly back. He's got a drive back. Kermit is waiting by the pool. He's drinking. Day is turning to night.

His lime Ricky in here?

Yeah, he's got his lime. What is a lime Ricky? Is that your favorite drink, Dave?

It's lime and gin, basically.

Cocktail tips as well, from the podcast.

That's right.

They're playing cards. And then midnight comes and there's a kind of violent pounding on the compound gates. They got the decrees. So they got the two decrees dismissing Mossadegh and installing Zahidi. The problem is it's the weekend. The weekend has just started. And in Iran, it would start kind of late Thursday, and it go on through Friday. And really, you can't do anything until the sun goes down on Saturday, August 15th. So they've now got this problem that they've got the decrees, but they've got to wait. And so they sit there and they wait, hoping it's all going to go to plan. The idea is these are going to get delivered to Mossadegh, dismissing him to Zahidi, installing him. So on the 15th, as the sun sets, Roosevelt is in a safe house again, drinking vodka, singing Broadway tunes. Now they sing Luck Be a Lady Tonight from Guys and Dolls.

I was cheered to see that the sort of tradition of having a theme song has a long and storied history.

Tell me, does that still happen?

Well, it still does. So really, it was very common. It was very common in stations, first of all, to have CD players constantly playing a soundtrack. It was thought it was sort of the last line of defense against listening devices. So there was just music running all the time, which could be a bit of what's going on here. They have a record going, they're blasting the song, sloshing drinks, hoping that no one's listening to them. But there also were at basses in the Middle east, it was very common to blast the theme song from Team World Police.

Oh, my word.

On a loop, just to keep the ironically or keep everyone, you know, fervently patriotic. As we banged away on cable traffic. Wow. So this is a predecessor to Kermit starting it off. Storied history.

So they're there singing, they're drinking, waiting for the phone call that it's all happened. The hours ticked by. There's no word, no one's come to see them. It's the morning now of August 16th. Clearly, it feels like perhaps something has gone wrong and they don't know yet what has gone wrong, but you can imagine the tension rising in that villa as it's happening. Finally, dawn comes. They've been up all night hungover. Hungover. Kermit switches on the radio and at 7am, what they hear is Mossadegh, the man who's supposed to have been overthrown.

And like any good coup, you take over the radio station, right? So if you don't have the radio station, you've lost.

Yeah, yeah. And he's there and he's on the radio and he's saying, I have been victorious over a coup attempt led by the Shah and foreign elements. And at that moment, also the Shah is panicking. I mean, he's basically going, it's over from, you know, I'm going to have to flee the country. So he's running, or in his case, flying, because he's a pilot. And so he pilots his own plane from the Caspian to Baghdad, out of.

The country, stops skinning the bighorn sheep that he'd shot up there and quickly gets into his. Quickly gets into his Cessna to fly to Baghdad.

So if you imagine for Roosevelt at this moment, I mean, it's a disaster, isn't it?

Well, he's in the middle of Tehran with basically no real backup, Right? I mean, and he's. Mosaddegh probably has some sense that he's involved at this point, or at least that the Brits are involved. And this is really. I mean, if Mossadegh is convinced that MI6 and the CIA have been trying to overthrow him, not only is he sort of personally in danger of being, you know, ripped apart by a mob or thrown in jail, but it seems possible that the very thing that the Brits and Americans are trying to prevent, which is sort of a more Soviet Communist leaning government in Iran, they could actually bring that about by having tried to overthrow Mossadegh.

So, I mean, put yourself in Kermit's mind at this point. You're hungover, you're in a villa, the radio's come on, Mossadegh is there. What are you thinking?

You might be thinking about packing a bag, but even though he looks like an insurance salesman, he's actually quite a bold character, isn't he? Even at this point, the CIA is telling him maybe should think about getting out, but Kermit is not that kind of guy.

I think that's a good place to leave it for today. And we'll pick up and see if Kermit can rescue the day for the coup next time.

Thanks for listening to the rest is classified. We'll see you next time.

[Kermit Roosevelt]

Thanks.