Final answer:
The CIA-led coups in Iran and Guatemala were influenced by the United States' commitment to containing Communism and by defending Western business interests, such as oil in Iran and agricultural lands in Guatemala owned by American corporations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The CIA-led coups in Iran and Guatemala were influenced by a combination of factors, including anti-communist sentiments and protection of Western business interests. During the Cold War, containment of Communism was a dominant theme in US foreign policy, and any government that appeared to lean towards communist ideologies or created alliances with Communist nations was perceived as a threat to the United States. This ideology led to various covert operations, including those in Iran and Guatemala.
In Iran's 1953 coup, the popular prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, had nationalized the oil industry, which directly affected the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and, broadly, Western financial interests. The CIA-orchestrated coup was presented as an effort to thwart a supposed communist threat, especially with Iran's proximity to the Soviet Union and the possibilities of Soviet influence. However, it also served to protect Western oil interests and reestablish foreign control over Iranian oil resources.
Similarly, in Guatemala in 1954, the democratically elected president Jacobo Árbenz introduced agrarian reforms that threatened the interests of the United Fruit Company, a major American corporation. Although the reforms were not inherently communist, Árbenz's government was accused of having communist sympathies, thereby providing a pretext for a CIA-backed coup that favored American business interests while also addressing concerns over communism spreading in the Western Hemisphere.