Four Days in August

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2019

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's no secret that Iran and the U.S. have a history of animosity toward each other. But when and how did it begin? This week we look back at four days in August 1953, when the CIA orchestrated a coup of Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

Transcript

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0:00.0	August 15th, 1953.
0:05.1	Shortly before midnight in Tehran, Iran's capital city, the air was thick with anticipation.
0:10.8	Something big was about to happen.
0:12.8	The elected Prime Minister of Iran, Muhammad Mosadel, was sitting at home, waiting.
0:18.3	He knew something was coming.
0:20.1	And he had no idea if he'd still be Prime Minister by morning.
0:23.3	So, with each tick, tick, tick of the clock,
0:27.9	he knew that the future of Iran was at stake.
0:31.7	One truckload of presidential guards' soldiers were going to Mosadel X's house at midnight.
0:36.7	Their mission was simple.
0:37.9	Go to Mosadel X's house in the middle of the night.
0:39.9	Not on the door.
0:40.7	Tell him he's fired.
0:41.7	Mosadel X would then protest undoubtedly and say, you can't fire me, I'm elected.
0:45.3	And at that point, you would arrest him.
0:48.5	That failed because Mosadel found out about the arrest.
0:52.7	News of it leaked out.
0:54.9	Then, there was a bit of panic among the army that was supposed to come out and support the arrest of Mosadel.
1:03.5	The phone lines were supposed to be cut, they were not cut.
1:07.5	So, there were a number of missteps that took place.
1:10.5	And when the soldiers arrived at Mosadel X's house to arrest him,
1:14.5	other soldiers jumped out of the woods and arrested those guys.
	...

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