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It's June 25th, 1953, in Washington, D.C.

In the headquarters of the State Department, America's top foreign policy officials have gathered for a secret meeting.

The group includes the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the CIA, and senior officials from the State Department.

Standing at the front of the room is Kermit Roosevelt, the chief of the CIA's Near East and Asia Division, and the leader of a mission that could reshape the Middle East.

The officials finish settling in, and as the meeting kicks off, Roosevelt begins circling the room, handing out copies of a dossier outlining the plan.

The mission known as Operation Ajax, Britain and America are planning to orchestrate a political coup in Iran.

For Britain, the operation is about oil.

The UK is trying to reclaim their monopoly of Iran's oil industry after Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosadek nationalized the industry, bringing the lucrative business under Iran's control.

The UK has never been willing to walk away from the country's vast reserves of petroleum, and staging a coup appeared to be the best way to deal with the issue, a chance to install a more friendly leader in Iran.

But for the US, the operation is about much more than natural resources or the money they provide.

The American officials supporting the coup believe that with Mosadek in power, communists could soon take over in Iran, and the Middle East could find itself dominated by the Soviet Union.

America's top opponent on the world stage.

As the leader of this mission, Kermit Roosevelt is well aware that staging a coup is a dangerous task with any number of moral complications.

It's a dirty business, leading a regime change in a foreign country.

But Roosevelt believes there's no better way to prevent the spread of communism in the Middle East and advance freedom around the world.

So Roosevelt is going to lay out a blueprint for the coup.

There may still be a couple of holdouts in the administration, and before the mission goes forward, Roosevelt is going to have to convince them that Operation Ajax is the best path forward for America.

Roosevelt finishes handing out copies of the dossier, then returns to the front of the room and begins his presentation.

Alright, gentlemen, as you're all aware, we've already begun taking some steps to remove Mosadek from power.

Some of the recent chaos in Tehran has been our doing, and that was necessary to convince President Eisenhower it was time to take action.

But now we have the cooperation of General Fazlolo Zaheddi, an ideal candidate to be Iran's next prime minister.

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