HORTON, 5:42 Let's go back to 1979. America used to have a friendly government in Iran that fell, and the American government knew the government in Iran was going to fall but that they couldn't do anything about it because the Shah, the dictator himself, had cancer and was a dead man. And so the CIA and the State Department, you know, let's go ahead and tell our friends, the French, send the Ayatollah Khomeini home to Iran to inherit the revolution which had been rising up to overthrow the American-backed dictatorship there. Because after all, we know the Ayatollah. He's an old friend of ours. We know him from 1953 when his group helped agitate to help destabilize and overthrow Prime Minister Mosaddegh to reinstall the Shah back in the last coup.
Two of my good friends. Together. Worth a watch. I am about to make some coffee and sit down for it... https://t.co/60p2Lj0Zbt
— Daniel McAdams (@DanielLMcAdams) February 10, 2024
DAWSON, 6:30 Operation Ajax, Kermit Roosevelt.
HORTON, 6:33 1953 when the U.S. government overthrew the government of Iran, and reinstalled the dictator, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, kept him in power for 26 years, 1953-1979. Then he fell and his regime fell in 1979, but as I said, the CIA and the State Dept. told Jimmy Carter, we better go ahead and let the Ayatollah come to power. We think we can deal with him and it'll be fine. Horton recommends Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Trita Parsi, 2007.
