The Iranian revolution of 1979 overthrew the US-backed Shah and brought to power Ayatollah Khomeini, who denounced the United States as the "Great Satan." As mentioned above, Mossadegh, who came to power in the elections of 1951, had nationalized Iran's oil industry and dealt a blow to British petroleum interests. Initially, the political elite saw Mossadegh as a means to establish greater control over Iran's oil resources and elbow Britain out. However, when Mossadegh rejected their plan to allow American oil companies into the country, his American would-be friends turned against him. The CIA organized a coup (known as Operation Ajax), relying on the support of the Islamist clergy, particularly Khomeini's mentor Ayatollah Abolgassem Kashani, who could mobilize large numbers of people from Tehran's slums against the secular nationalist Mossadegh. Kashani received substantial sums of money from the CIA and had very close ties to it. It was this initial groundwork, laid by the CIA and Kashani, that helped position Khomeini for his role in the 1979 revolution.

XREF: Connects to the broader pattern of US Cold War interventions creating blowback in the Middle East, similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 244