SAVAK had 5,000 agents at its peak. Gholam Reza Afkhami estimates SAVAK staffing at between 4,000 and 6,000.Time magazine’s 19 February 1979 publication also states that it had 5,000 members.After the 1953 coup d’état, the United States and the United Kingdom removed Mohammad Mosaddeq, who was originally focused on nationalizing Iran’s oil industry, but also set out to weaken the Shah from power on August 19, 1953.
