A COLD WAR

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Truman sent Harriman to Iran to try to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the tensions with Britain. It did not go well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mossadegh started to take over the AIOC offices and appointed a French-educated engineer as the managing director of the new National Iranian Oil Company. The AOIC refused to allow Iran to transport their oil in British tankers. It turns into an epic showdown. The British started planning to have Mossadegh removed from power. Meanwhile the United States got more and more involved. Learn more about...

In the middle of the 20th century, Iranians really liked Americans, mostly due to the fact that their experiences with them (up until that time) had been mostly positive, unlike the British and the Russians. And the Americans were, in 1951, still trying to convince the British to play fair with the Iranians. If only that attitude has lasted.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

After the assassination of Razmara, Mossadegh’s oil committee voted unanimously to nationalise the AIOC. Iran went crazy for Mossadegh. It was Mossa-Mania. The British were furious and tried to appoint a new Prime Minister, the latest in the line of “guys they were sure could get the job done”. It backfired. Massively.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The increasing tensions in Iran, driven in part by British imperialism, leads to the formation of a religious terror group called Fedayeen-i-Islam, the first of its kind.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1949 the Iranian Majlis put forward a bill to revoke the British oil concession. This, combined with worker riots in Abadan, prompted the British to take action. Meanwhile, Mossadegh forms a new political party, The National Front, and General Ali Razmara, who had been one of General Schwarzkopf's most trusted officers, is made PM at the “suggestion” of the British.  Learn more about your ad ch...

When Reza makes himself Shah, Mossadegh is livid. He refuses to agree to it. Then he turns down multiple senior positions in the Shah's cabinet. He ends up retiring from public life at age 45, gets imprisoned, and tries to commit suicide. He returns when the Shah is forced to abdicate, but an attempted assassination on the new Shah makes the political situation in Iran even worse. And a flamboyant...

Mossadegh had two non-negotiables that drove his political game. First, he was a die-hard believer in the rule of law, which put him on a collision course with autocrats like Reza Shah. Second, he was all about Iranian self-rule, making him Public Enemy No. 1 for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. He wasn't just against them; he was their kryptonite. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Dive into the turbulent history of oil in Iran, where George Reynolds, a self-taught geologist funded by Aussie entrepreneur William Knox D’Arcy, battled smallpox, bandits, and desert heat to uncover the largest oil field ever found. Reynolds' discovery catapulted Iran into the global energy arena, but not without exploitation and strife. D'Arcy and the Scots invested heavily in what became the An...

We’re talking about Reza Shah, a soldier who rose to power from a humble background, pulled of a British-engineered coup, and effectively ruled Iran from 1921 - 1941. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iran's first attempt at democracy ended when the British and the Russians decided amongst themselves to divide up Iran in 1907 and supported the new Shah's desire to crush the parliament. But the Iranians fought on, exiled the Shah and replaced him with his 11 year old son. Then they hired an American banker to clean up corruption. The British and Russians didn't like that, so they had him thrown...

The Shah continued selling the family jewels to the British and Russians, including the entire Iranian tobacco industry. He was eventually assassinated and replaced by his son, who had learned nothing. In 1901 he sold William Knox D'Arcy the entire Iranian oil industry. This shaped all of subsequent Iranian history.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we delve into the history of Iran, focusing on the US's role in ending democratic rule in 1953 and installing Mohammad Reza Shah's dictatorship, a fact well-known in Iran but only admitted by the US in the 90s. This event led to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, headed by Ayatollah Khomeini, and fueled anti-Western sentiments across the Middle East. We discuss the significant figure...

The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and the concept of psychological warfare. The Rosenberg trial, which began in March 1951, was a sensational case involving accusations of espionage for the Soviet Union. The couple, tried alongside fellow Communist Morton Sobell, were defended by Manny and Alexander Bloch. The trial involved key testimonies, including that of David Greenglass, Ethel's brothe...

We continue the shocking story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, charged with conspiracy to commit espionage from 1944 to 1950. The US government sought the death penalty and engaged in questionable tactics during the trial, while public debate grew over the extreme sentencing. We discuss the role of Roy Cohn, Donald Trump’s future mentor and lawyer, the unethical conduct of judge Irving R. Kaufman,...

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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our final NATO episode! The Pentagon is worried that there isn’t enough military budget to pay for both domestic and European defence. Until someone had the insight that the two might be closely related. So now the Western Union’s defense committee had to pick a commander-in-chief.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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