You really have to take the long view to understand Iran. For 500 years, Iran had a monarchy, until after WW2 when the "Shah of Iran" took over. In order to modernize his country, he formed a parliament like England, which appointed Mossadegh as PM. Unfortunately, Mossadegh exiled the Shah, nationalized the oil industry, and suspended elections. The British were the main oil industry, there, so they fought back with the help of the US. The US gave opposition groups money since we were fighting the cold war and Mossadegh was pro-communist. The money was to be used in a campaign for democratic elections. However, the Iranians could not agree on the rules for the elections. There as a large bloc that wanted to return to a monarchy who brought back the Shah. The Shah then took control of the country. Later, the Islamist took over the country by revolution, much as ISIS is doing today. They have been in power ever since enforcing radical Sharia law. The narrative that America overthrew a democratically elected government in a coup is just false.