Fariba Amini Informed Comment
“We live as we dream – alone. While the dream disappears, the life continues painfully.”
― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In February 2026, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme leader, his entire family and members of Iran’s political and military elites were assassinated either by the U.S. or the Israeli military during the attacks on Iran. One of the main objectives was clearly regime change. But if anything, the regime was strengthened.
When it comes to regime change schemes in the past, two unsavory figures come into mind, Kermit Roosevelt and Larry Devlin, one in Iran and one in Congo.
Kermit Roosevelt was a CIA field officer who was instrumental in bringing down Mossadegh in 1953. Larry Devlin was also an operative who helped bring down Lumumba in 1960. They both paid top dollar to people in the respective countries to create false protests in opposition to the two men.
Dr. Mossadegh had dared to nationalize the Iranian oil during the cold war. Patrice Lumumba tried to emancipate his people from years of colonization under the brutal regime of the Belgians. Both the British and the Belgians had a stake in the two countries. Oil in Iran, diamonds and other minerals in the Congo were on the agenda. But Belgian rule was nothing like the British. The Belgians, during the reign of Leopold, had maimed and abused the Congolese.
In Iran’s case, it was not so brutal. In any case, Iran was never colonized.
The Eisenhower administration, with the help of the Dulles brothers, brought down the democratically elected governments in Iran and in Congo. Larry Devlin, in his final testimony at the U.S. Congress stated, “and when asked where Gottlieb had said the order had come from, Devlin was unequivocal, ‘the president of the United States.’”
Mohammad Mosaddegh. Public Domain.
The fate of the two men was different. Dr. Mossadegh was tried for “treason” and, imprisoned for three years and later banished to his estate until his death in 1967. Patrice Lumumba tried to escape his compound, hoping to get to an airfield to leave. He was counting on the UN, but the United Nations forces did nothing. He was hounded by the agent, Larry Devlin, and the Belgian informants. Lumumba was also betrayed by his one-time ally Mobutu, who robbed Congo to no end. Lumumba and his two colleagues were found, in a remote place, put against a tree and executed. Their bodies were interned twice and exhumed twice but it was not enough. Not wanting to leave any trace of the murders, they were put in acid. Only a gold tooth of Patrice Lumumba was found by his daughter’s murderer and delivered to Juliana Lumumba.
Mobutu who decided to become an African nationalist, changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko. He became the president of Congo and ruled with an iron fist for nearly 32 years. Once on the payroll of the CIA, he amassed great wealth while the Congolese people suffered economically. It is estimated that he accumulated between $50 million and $5 billion.
He was Washington’s man and JFK thanked him for saving the Congo from Communism. Was Lumumba a communist? No.
Was Mossadegh pro-Soviet? Absolutely not. In fact, both prime ministers sought the help of the United States, which they were denied.
JFK, meeting Mobutu at the White House famously said, “The whole thing would have collapsed, and the Communists would have taken over.”
Since the period of the rule of Mobutu and thereafter, the Congo has witnessed a horrific civil war, causing over a million death to this day.
Now the Congo is once again engulfed in corruption and suffering from an ebola outbreak. The mines of the Congo are not only being plundered by various mining companies just as they had been under the Belgians, but also by an Israeli, Dan Gertlet, whose father and grandfather are the owners of Israel Diamond Exchange). An orthodox Jewish Israeli, with close ties to Netanyahu, he became a multi- billionaire at the expense of the people of Congo. Because of human rights violations and corruption, he had been sanctioned during the Biden administration, only to be saved by Trump with the help of none other than attorney Alan Dershowistz, Epstein’s friend. He had secured close ties with Joseph Kabila, the son of Laurent Kabila who had been assassinated earlier. Gertler got mining rights from the young Kabila under suspicious circumstances.
Diamonds are no longer the only riches in Congo: now cobalt and tantalum are the minerals du jour.
When finally leaving the Congo, Mobutu gave a large photo of himself in uniform to Devlin, thanking him for his ascent to power. “To my old and excellent friend, L. Devlin, to whom the Congo and its chief owe so much.”
Mohammad Reza Shah, in a meeting with Kermit Roosevelt told him, “I owe my throne to you and God.”
Both Devlin and Roosevelt prospered from mineral and oil deals after they left the CIA.
To this day, the Congolese people are living in a dire situation: A never-ending civil war, immense poverty and oppression while the new mining companies and individuals like Dan Gertlet are profiting from the wealth of Congo.
Notes:
Most of the material on the Congo derives from the book, The Lumumba Plot by Stuart A. Reid and various other articles.
Sydney Gottlieb was a chemist working for the CIA. A toxicologist, he was given the task of poisoning Lumumba, later Fidel Castro and other unwanted leaders. For a more in-depth study, read the book Poisoner- in- Chief by Stephen Kinzer
Fariba Amini is a freelance writer and journalist. She has interviewed many scholars of Iran and former U.S. diplomats throughout the years. Her research on The Most Successful Iranian-Americans was published by the U.S. Department of State. She is the editor of Letters from Ahmad Abad (in Persian). Her father was the mayor of Tehran and personal attorney to Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.
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