S eventy years ago, the fate of Iran hung in the balance, when a US-UK coup to oust the elected prime minister appeared to have failed. The CIA was ready to pull the plug on the operation, but a 28-year-old British intelligence officer, monitoring events from Cyprus, insisted on persevering.
The coup – which took place this month 70 years ago – ultimately succeeded, Mohammad Mosadegh, the leader who was popular in Iran for nationalising a British-run oilfield, was detained, and the Shah flew back to Tehran, strengthened.
British interests were restored in the short term but the shah went on to become a reviled dictator, paving the way for the 1979 Islamic Revolution and an enduring state of enmity between Iran and the west.
Very little was known about this MI6 officer, Norman Darbyshire. He had been put in charge
