142.
Amira stopped in front of a shop and pulled up the gate. Nasty, caged creatures hung from the ceiling. “I’ve seen these animals in my nightmares.”, I muttered.
Amira took my hand. “I sell these animals to ward off evil. With the right incantation, evil enters them and does not escape. They are like those sadistic lights you sell in America that lure in bugs and fry them. If I had been around in 1953, I would have given them all to Mossadegh. He needed them. On the morning of August 17th, Mossadegh was convinced that the coup had failed even as CIA agents posing as communists were smashing shops, trashing businesses and bombing the homes of religious leaders. While Mossadegh was recalling his forces from their stations around the city, Zahedi and his followers were being smuggled into the American embassy. On August 19th, the Shah’s decrees were printed in the Tehran papers. The CIA orchestrated demonstrations throughout the city. CIA operatives seized tanks and trucks and stationed them in public squares. The crowds began to swell and fence sitters began switching sides. The central telegraph office and the ministry of exchange were seized. When Tehran announcements of the coup’s success were broadcasted, it was over. Mossadegh was arrested. The CIA was ecstatic. Donald Wilbur would later smugly reflect that ‘It was a day that should never have ended, and it carried with it such a sense of elation, of satisfaction and jubilance that it is doubtful any other day can come up to it. Our trump card had prevailed, and the Shah was victorious.’ So the Shah was installed as an imperial dictator and Mossadegh spent the rest of his life under house arrest. And that was that.” She said flatly, seeming to fend off despair with resignation.
Amira took my hand. “I sell these animals to ward off evil. With the right incantation, evil enters them and does not escape. They are like those sadistic lights you sell in America that lure in bugs and fry them. If I had been around in 1953, I would have given them all to Mossadegh. He needed them. On the morning of August 17th, Mossadegh was convinced that the coup had failed even as CIA agents posing as communists were smashing shops, trashing businesses and bombing the homes of religious leaders. While Mossadegh was recalling his forces from their stations around the city, Zahedi and his followers were being smuggled into the American embassy. On August 19th, the Shah’s decrees were printed in the Tehran papers. The CIA orchestrated demonstrations throughout the city. CIA operatives seized tanks and trucks and stationed them in public squares. The crowds began to swell and fence sitters began switching sides. The central telegraph office and the ministry of exchange were seized. When Tehran announcements of the coup’s success were broadcasted, it was over. Mossadegh was arrested. The CIA was ecstatic. Donald Wilbur would later smugly reflect that ‘It was a day that should never have ended, and it carried with it such a sense of elation, of satisfaction and jubilance that it is doubtful any other day can come up to it. Our trump card had prevailed, and the Shah was victorious.’ So the Shah was installed as an imperial dictator and Mossadegh spent the rest of his life under house arrest. And that was that.” She said flatly, seeming to fend off despair with resignation.
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