Coup 53

Old secrets cast long shadows

Tehran, Iran, August 19, 1953. A group of Iranian conspirators who, with the approval of the deposed tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, have conspired with agents of the British MI6 and the US CIA, manage to put an end to the democratic government led by Mohammad Mosaddegh, a dramatic event that will begin the tragic era of coups d'état that, orchestrated by the CIA, will take place, over the following decades, in dozens of countries around the world.

Documentary History

Ralph Fiennes

(Self - Actor / Norman Darbyshire)

Taghi Amirani

(Self - Filmmaker)

Farhad Diba

(Self - Mossadegh's Nephew)

Malcolm Byrne

(Self - Researcher)

Stephen Kinzer

(Self - Writer)

Walter Murch

(Self - Film Editor)

Ervand Abrahamian

(Self - Writer)

Alison Rooper

(Self - End of Empire (1985) Researcher)

David Owen

(Self - Politician)

Mark Anderson

(Self - End of Empire (1985) Producer (voice))

Humphry Trevelyan

(Self - End of Empire (1985) Cameraman)

Chris Morphet

(Self - Cameraman)

Rameza Mahsani

(Self - Former Ferry Boat Captain)

Adbolzahra Baghlani

(Self - Former Gardener)

Ghobad Fakhimi

(Self - Former Oil Engineer)

Nigel Hawkes

(Self - Journalist (voice))

Stephen Dorril

(Self - Writer)

Hamid Ahmadi

(Self - Researcher)

Mousa Mehran

(Self - Mossadegh's Former Bodyguard)

Ardeshir Zahedi

(Self - Former Politician)

David Talbot

(Self - Writer)

Siavush Randjbar-Daemi

(Self - Historian)

Ahmad Djalili

(Self - Photojournalist)

Haj Habib

(Self - Butcher)

Abdolmajid Bayat

(Self - Mossadegh's Grandson)

Esmail Yazdi

(Self - Mossadegh's Doctor)

Andrew Goddard

(Loyal Guard)

Kane Morrell

(Colonel Nassiri)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Winston Churchill

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Richard Nixon

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Mohammad Mosaddegh

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Julian Amery

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Kermit Roosevelt

(Self - CIA Officer (archive footage))

Bernie Sanders

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Frank Reynolds

(Self - Anchorman (archive footage))

Peter Ramsbotham

(Self - British Official (archive footage))

Donald Logan

(Self - British Official (archive footage))

Henry Grady

(Self - US Diplomat (archive footage))

Sam Falle

(Self - British Official (archive footage))

Stephen Meade

(Self - CIA Agent (archive footage))

Nasrollah Fatemi

(Self - Iranian Diplomat (archive footage))

Peter Avery

(Self - Teacher (archive footage))

Eric Drake

(Self - Refinery Manager (archive footage))

Fouad Rouhani

(Self - Legal Advisor (archive footage))

Frank Soskice

(Self - UK Attorney General (archive footage))

Harry S. Truman

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Basil Jackson

(Self - Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. VP (archive footage))

Joe Addison

(Self - Lawyer (archive footage))

Shapour Bakhtiar

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Abolhassan Banisadr

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Fazlollah Zahedi

(Self - Army General (archive footage))

George Middleton

(Self - British Official (archive footage))

George McGhee

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Joseph McCarthy

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

John Foster Dulles

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Richard Cottam

(Self - CIA Officer (archive footage))

Fereydoun Azarnour

(Self - Tudeh Militant (archive footage))

Princess Ashraf Pahlavi of Iran

(Self - Shah's Sister (archive footage))

Mehdi Homayouni

(Self - Royal Guard / Tudeh Militant (archive footage))

Abol-Ghasem Kashani

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Alireza Saheb

(Self - Mossadegh's Aide (archive footage))

Nematollah Nassiri

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

(Self - Queen Consort (archive footage))

Amir Pishdad

(Self - Medical Student (1953) (archive footage))

Abbas Aghelizadeh

(Self - Tudeh Militant (archive footage))

Efraim Halevy

(Self - Mossad Head (archive footage))

Jacobo Árbenz

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Jimmy Carter

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Ruhollah Khomeini

(Self - Politician (archive footage))

Donald Trump

(Self - Politician (archive footage))