After the 1953 coup d’état, the United States and the United Kingdom removed Mohammad Mosaddeq, who was originally focused on nationalizing homeland’s oil industry, but also set out to weaken the Shah from power on August 19, 1953. After the coup, the monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah, established an intelligence service with police powers. The Shah’s goal was to strengthen his regime by placing political opponents under surveillance and repressing dissident movements. According to Encyclopædia Iranica: