Editing False flag (section)

===Operation TPAJAX===
{{Main|1953 Iranian coup d'état}}
On 4 April 1953, the [[CIA]] was ordered to undermine the government of Iran over a four-month period, as a precursor to overthrowing Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]]. One tactic used to undermine Mosaddegh was to carry out false flag attacks "on mosques and key public figures", to be blamed on Iranian communists loyal to the government.<ref name="Callanan2009">{{cite book |last=Callanan |first=James |title=Covert Action in the Cold War: US Policy, Intelligence and CIA Operations |date=30 November 2009 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |isbn=978-0857711663 |location=London |pages=115}}</ref>

The CIA operation was code-named [[TPAJAX]]. The tactic of a "directed campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist party" involved the bombing of "at least one" well known Muslim's house by CIA agents posing as Communists.<ref name="Risen2000">{{cite news |last=Risen |first=James |title=SECRETS OF HISTORY: The C.I.A. in Iran — A Special Report; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and in '79) |date=2000-04-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-08-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722014228/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |archive-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> The CIA determined that the tactic of false flag attacks added to the "positive outcome" of [[TPAJAX]].<ref name="Callanan2009"/>

However, as "the C.I.A. burned nearly all of its files on its role in the 1953 coup in Iran", the true extent of the tactic has been difficult for historians to discern.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |title=C.I.A. Destroyed Files on 1953 Iran Coup |date=1997-05-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/29/us/cia-destroyed-files-on-1953-iran-coup.html |access-date=2024-08-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116101540/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/29/us/cia-destroyed-files-on-1953-iran-coup.html |archive-date=16 November 2020}}</ref>