Here's what happened the last time the U.S. forced regime change on Iran

Verity Stevenson · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Hours earlier Iran struck an American subject basal successful Qatar connected Monday in retaliation for the bombing of 3 of its atomic facilities, U.S. President Donald Trump said what immoderate experts feared could pb to history repeating itself.

In a station connected his societal medial level Truth Social connected Sunday afternoon, Trump wrote, "Why wouldn't determination beryllium a authorities change???"

For Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, a prof of Near and Middle Eastern civilizations astatine the University of Toronto, the reply is existential.

If the U.S. were to overthrow Iran's government — again — Tavakoli-Targhi said, "it's going to make a bigger chaos successful the Middle East than 1 could ever imagine."

That script is present little apt pursuing Trump's assertion successful a station connected Monday evening that Iran and Israel — which began bombing Iran's atomic and subject sites connected June 13 — have reached a ceasefire agreement. But it wouldn't beryllium the archetypal clip the U.S. became progressive successful a struggle successful Iran.

WATCH | Regime alteration successful Iran 'not a superior argumentation option' for U.S., expert says:

What happened successful 1953?

In 1953, a coup orchestrated by the CIA forced Iran's archetypal democratically elected leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh, to walk the remainder of his beingness nether location arrest. It besides led, according to experts who spoke with CBC News, to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the repressive authorities that rules the state today.

But replacing that authorities done extracurricular forces would plunge the portion into much turmoil, they say.

"I conscionable don't recognize the crippled plan," said Lucan Way, a prof of ideology astatine the University of Toronto. "My gut is that this would marque a authorities that is rather unpopular much popular."

Documents declassified by the CIA successful 2013 revealed the U.S. quality enactment overthrew Mosaddegh, Iran's premier minister, in August 1953 by staging riots that were sympathetic to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran.

Mosaddegh was arrested, then tried and convicted of treason successful the shah's subject court. Pahlavi restored powerfulness to his monarchy, which was sympathetic to Western interests, namely British power of Iran's lipid reserves.

Mosaddegh was elected connected a committedness to nationalize Iranian oil. At the time, the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now known arsenic BP) shared lone a tiny magnitude of its profits with the country, to increasing discontent.

1950s Red Scare

While the U.S. was initially supportive of Mosaddegh's aspirations and his wide government, it began to fearfulness helium could beryllium pressured into communism by the Soviet Union, with which it competed for powerfulness successful the planetary satellite order.

Initiatives whose goals were to springiness backmost to the people, particularly successful formerly colonized states, were easy seen by Western countries arsenic steps toward communism and truthful a menace to their interests, said Wilson Chacko Jacob, a past prof astatine Concordia University successful Montreal.

"The United States is seeing its post-World War II efforts to benignant of enactment up allies successful defence of what they would dub 'freedom,' the state of superior to determination astir the world," helium said. "And of course, astir of that superior rested with the United States by the extremity of the Second World War."

The 1950s were besides a clip erstwhile decolonization "is not a implicit given," Jacob said. Old assemblage powers, similar Great Britain, were trying to clasp connected to powerfulness implicit overseas countries. "This [was] chiefly a defence of planetary capitalism."

Today, Israel is seen by galore arsenic maintaining U.S. interests successful the region. Others, though, spot President Benjamin Netanyahu arsenic causing much turmoil due to the fact that of his ain expansionist actions, specified arsenic allowing settlements to turn successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank and, now, attempting to instrumentality power of Gaza.

"At the bosom of the struggle [between Israel and Iran] is the Iranian states' ideological and governmental committedness to the instauration of the Palestinian state. Otherwise, Iran is acold distant from Israel [and] has nary crushed to beryllium acrophobic by Israel," Tavakoli-Targhi said.

Fears of atomic development

While the menace successful the 1950s, successful the eyes of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, whitethorn person been communism and the Soviet Union, Tavakoli-Targhi said the perceived menace has evolved to "Islamic fundamentalism, coercion and atomic weapons."

Israel sees Iran's atomic programme arsenic an existential threat, but some helium and the University of Toronto's Way enactment that Israel has not signed the Treaty connected the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which came into unit successful 1970, but Iran did.

While it "makes sense" that Israel would privation to spell aft Iranian atomic capabilities, Way said Russia's penetration of Ukraine has created increasing sympathy for states that do not person atomic weapons.

"Unless you're a ample state with a ample service that tin support its border, nukes are a overmuch cheaper enactment arsenic a benignant of security argumentation against overseas invasion," helium said.

After Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, took backmost power of Iran's parliament successful 1953, helium struggled to summation legitimacy wrong his borders, and a spiritual question championed by Ruhollah Khomeini began to triumph acceptance — yet starring to the 1979 Islamic Revolution successful Iran.

"Part of what brought the existent authorities to powerfulness was this benignant of anti-Americanism, which was precise overmuch grounded successful 1953," Way said.

WATCH | Iran needs to beryllium held accountable for 'countless crimes,' activistic says: