Seven Decades of US Regime Change: What Has Been Achieved?
Usaid Siddiqui
From Iran to Latin America, the US has repeatedly intervened to topple governments it deemed hostile. These efforts have often come with enormous humanitarian and financial costs, prompting questions about the historical lessons for Washington.
More than seven decades after the US helped overthrow Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953, the two nations are again in direct confrontation. The conflict between Washington and Tehran began in late February when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, accusing Tehran of being on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. The conflict has spread across the region, disrupting global energy markets and showing no signs of cooling down.
Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, Washington has repeatedly sought to weaken the Tehran government. However, Iran is not the only case. From Guatemala and Cuba to Chile and Venezuela, the US has intervened time and again in governments it viewed as hostile to its interests.
The US Helped Restore the Shah in 1953
In 1953, the CIA, working with Britain, overthrew Prime Minister Mosaddegh after he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a move the West saw as against its interests. The coup brought Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi back to power, who had ruled since 1941. Washington and Tehran under Pahlavi were close allies for the next 25 years, with the US helping Iran develop its civilian nuclear program.
US Regime Change Efforts in Iran Backfire
Over time, the Shah's increasingly authoritarian rule fueled opposition. In 1979, massive protests forced him to abdicate, and cleric Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to establish the Islamic Republic. US-Iran relations shifted from close allies to major adversaries. Tensions escalated with the hostage-taking at the US Embassy, sanctions, and US support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
In 2015, the JCPOA nuclear deal was signed to limit Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. However, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. Iran subsequently began enriching uranium beyond the limits, stockpiling around 440 kg of highly enriched uranium.
Latest US Regime Change Effort in Iran
On February 28, the US and Israel again launched an attack on Iran. One of the central goals of the war, as Trump declared, was to achieve regime change in Tehran. That goal has failed; the clerical leaders were quickly replaced, the Iranian government remains intact and is said to have consolidated its control over the country.
Other US Interventions in the Middle East and Afghanistan
In 2003, the US and its allies invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, alleging he possessed weapons of mass destruction, but no such weapons were found. About 315,000 people died directly in the conflict. In US-led conflicts since 2001, approximately 940,000 people have died, a figure that could rise to 4.5-4.7 million if indirect deaths are included. The financial cost is estimated at $5.8 trillion, with an additional $2.2 trillion for veteran care over the next 30 years.
In Libya, the 2011 military intervention ousted Muammar Gaddafi, but the country subsequently plunged into prolonged political division and armed conflict. In Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly regained power when US troops withdrew in 2021.
US Intervention History Elsewhere
During the Cold War, the US supported operations against elected left-wing governments in Latin America. In 1954, the CIA helped overthrow Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz, leading to a civil war that lasted until 1996. In 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba failed. In 1973, a military coup in Chile brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, resulting in over 3,000 deaths, tens of thousands tortured or imprisoned, 1,400 missing, and at least 200,000 exiled. The US also invaded Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989.
In 2026, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was abducted during a US military operation, and the country was subsequently led by a more US-friendly interim president.
What Lessons for Washington?
Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at King's College London, argues that the 1953 coup was tactically successful but historically a failure, making anti-Americanism a core part of the revolutionary coalition that overthrew the Shah in 1979. Similarly, the Iraq invasion removed Saddam Hussein but inadvertently created political space for Iran to expand its influence. The real lesson is about “strategic discipline,” distinguishing between weakening specific capabilities and trying to redesign political systems.
Negar Mortavezi, a senior fellow at the US-based Center for International Policy, argues that the coup crushed a democratic movement, entrenched dictatorship, and laid the groundwork for deep anti-American sentiment. “The central lesson must be clear: destroying a government is much easier than controlling what follows,” she said. “Seven decades later, the same assumptions persist: that the US can impose its preferred order from outside, that societies will respond as Washington expects, and that consequences can be contained. Tactics may change, but the mistakes remain the same.”
