I would like to point out--because it's becoming something like my internet...little thing that sets me off (there's a word/phrase for this, but I'm having a brain-fart)...But while presenting the Shah as a puppet is fair, pointing to Mossadegh as 'the legitimate government' isn't really accurate and misses a whole raftload of complexity and nuance solely to present a Ron Paul narrative of how America fucked-over Iran when the actual historical events are a lot more complicated. Mossadegh was doing his best impression of the typical MidEast dictator by ruling via decree, cancelling elections once his side had 'won', dismissing parliament entirely when even the loaded, pro-Mossadegh reps he did allow began to take issue with his rule, rejecting a dismissal the Shah had constitutional right to present to him, and appealing to a (non-sympathetic, as it happened) military to enforce and ensure his rule thereafter.
And the 'overthrow' attempted by the US and UK in the form of Operations Ajax and Boot actually
failed, and the conspirators got either rounded up by Mossadegh's government, went into hiding, or fled from the country*. The successful 'revolution' starred one prominent face from the prior attempts (General Zahedi, who the Shah made PM in Mossadegh's place, and who's gone into hiding after the first attempt failed), but came after a Tudeh party rally in Tehran inspired counter-demonstration (potentially organized by Zahedi and others) and things descended into such a cluster that the Army (which, as mentioned, was unsympathetic to Mossadegh and had a lot of pro-Shah forces in it--and definitely a lot of anti-communist officers, since much of it's leadership was drawn from the old aristocratic families of Iran) stepped in and performed the "coup" of Mossadegh in favor of Zahedi.
*Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the CIA head of station and the 'man with the plan' for Ajax, is even alleged to have been in the process of doing this because he and the CIA felt Iran was a lost cause at that point that was going to drop into the Soviet sphere--when sudden divine intervention lucked-out a win from the jaws of defeat...And, unfortunately, made the 'success' of the operation a model for CIA activities in other parts of the globe like South America.
*breath*
*breath*
*breath*
Uh...Yeah...So...That's my rant about that. Sorry. It's just one of those things that bothers me.
Everything after your first comma I'd agree with though.