Iran and the U.S., Part One: Four Days in August

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Aug. 21, 1953: A resident of Tehran washes "Yankee Go Home" from a wall in the capital city of Iran. The new Prime Minister Fazlollah Zahedi requested the cleanup after the overthrow of his predecessor. AP hide caption

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Aug. 21, 1953: A resident of Tehran washes "Yankee Go Home" from a wall in the capital city of Iran. The new Prime Minister Fazlollah Zahedi requested the cleanup after the overthrow of his predecessor.

AP

The U.S. and Iran have had a tense relationship for decades — but when did that begin? This week, we feature our very first episode about an event from August 1953 — when the CIA helped to overthrow Iran's prime minister.

This episode originally ran as Four Days in August. You can find more of Throughline's coverage into the origins of the conflict in the Middle East here.

If you would like to read more on the 1953 coup, here's a list:

• All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer
• Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran by Kermit Roosevelt Jr.
• "Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran" from The New York Times (a timeline of events leading up to and immediately following the coup)
• "CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup" from The National Security Archive (CIA documents on the Iran operation)
• "64 Years Later, CIA Finally Releases Details of Iranian Coup" from Foreign Policy magazine