Tehran, August 20 (RHC)-- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has hit out at the United States for setting up a team to coordinate its pressure campaign on Iran, saying it is yet another plot to topple the Iranian government. 

"65 years ago today, the U.S. overthrew the popularly elected democratic government of Dr. Mossadegh, restoring the dictatorship & subjugating Iranians for the next 25 years.  Now an 'Action Group' dreams of doing the same through pressure, misinformation & demagoguery.  Never again," Zarif tweeted on Sunday. 

Sunday marked 65 years since the coup toppled the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq. The coup d'etat came after Mosaddeq nationalized Iran's oil industry which had become a monopoly of Britain.  

After decades-long denial by Washington, declassified documents released last year revealed the CIA role.  Known as Operation Ajax, the U.S. involvement fueled the surge of nationalism in Iran and poisoned US-Iran relations well into the 21st century. 

"The U.S. has been trying to bring down the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Revolution. This is to protect American oil and Israel," said Mohammad Ghaderi, chief editor at Tehran Times. 

"The administration of US President Donald Trump has more than doubled its actions, adopting a more hawkish stance towards Iran, and reintroducing punishing sanctions. The White House is now openly using a subtle game of divide-and-conquer to disassemble the unity Iranians currently display," he noted. 

Back in May, Washington withdrew from its multilateral nuclear agreement with Tehran, and said it would reintroduce the sanctions that had been lifted under the accord. 

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department formed an Iran Action Group aimed at consolidating and intensifying the country's efforts targeting the Islamic Republic.  It will be headed by senior policy adviser Brian Hook, who dismissed speculation that the new group's creation during a week coinciding with the coup anniversary suggested that the U.S. was pursuing regime change in Iran, calling the timing "pure coincidence." 

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that by engineering the coup, the U.S. and UK managed to subjugate Iran to decades of dictatorship.  They, he said, alleged that the coup had been meant to prevent the Soviet Union's dominance over Iran, while the main reason was their continued access to Iranian crude oil. 

"The bitter incident inflicted heavy economic, political, and security costs on the Iranian nation, and paved the way for decades of plundering of Iran's oil and dominance [over it] by a vassal dictatorship," Larijani said. 

Imperialist machinations have re-emerged today in the form of efforts to meddle in Iran's nuclear program, its defense power, and regional influence, he added.  Larijani said the U.S. has masqueraded its economic sanctions on Iran under the veneer of supporting freedoms and human rights, and maintaining regional and international security. 

"With the dark track record of the August 19 coup and setting up a vassal dictatorship, how do you dare to talk about freedom for the Iranian nation?" he said, addressing U.S. leaders.  "Now that you have pitted terrorists against the region with your weapons, how do you dare to speak about regional and international security?" he continued. 

Larijani said the Iranian nation will continue down its path in the face of all intrigues and confront aggressors through unity under the leadership of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.