Which event involved Western powers backing a coup in Iran in 1953?

• A. Arab-Israeli War 1956
• B. Iranian Coup (1953)
• C. Cuban Revolution
• D. Korean War

Answer: (B)

Foreign powers intervene covertly to shape a country’s leadership when strategic interests are at stake. In 1953, after Iran’s prime minister Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry, Britain and the United States backed a coup to remove him and restore the shah to power. This operation, known as Operation Ajax, showed how external powers used political meddling to tilt a country toward a Western-aligned government during the Cold War. The outcome reinforced a pro-Western regime in Iran for years and deeply affected Iran–Western relations going forward. The other events are different conflicts or revolutions in other places and times, not a Western-backed coup in Iran.