Editing Allen Dulles (section)

===Coup in Iran===
In 1953, Dulles was involved, along with [[Frank Wisner]],{{sfn|Trento|2001}}{{page needed|date=September 2011}} in [[Operation Ajax]], the covert operation that led to the removal of democratically elected prime minister of [[Iran]], [[Mohammad Mossadegh]],<ref>Loretta Capeheart and Dragan Milovanovic, ''Social Justice: Theories, Issues, and Movements'' (Rutgers University Press, 2007; {{ISBN|0813540380}}), p. 186.</ref> and his replacement with [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]], Shah of Iran. Rumors of a Soviet takeover of the country had surfaced due to the nationalization of the [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company]].<ref>{{cite news |title=With Sten guns and sovereigns Britain and US saved Iran's throne for |date=March 15, 1997 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/with-sten-guns-and-sovereigns-britain-and-us-saved-iran-s-throne-for-the-shah-1272932.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106201615/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/with-sten-guns-and-sovereigns-britain-and-us-saved-iran-s-throne-for-the-shah-1272932.html |archive-date=November 6, 2021}}</ref> By coincidence, on August 18, 1953, Dulles was taking a vacation in Rome while the Shah fled there after a setback in the coup, and the two met while checking in to the [[The Westin Excelsior Rome|Hotel Excelsior]]. The meeting turned out to be fortuitous for the United States and the coup. CIA and independent historians say that the meeting was happenstance, but conspiracy theories abound.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/iran/2018-02-12/cia-declassifies-more-zendebad-shah-internal-study-1953-iran-coup |title=CIA declassifies more of "Zendebad, Shah!" – internal study of 1953 Iran coup |work=[[National Security Archive]]}}</ref>