Photo -- See Caption Below


Rug
1954
Tabriz, Persian Rug, presented to President Eisenhower by His Imperial Majesty Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shahinshah of Iran, on the occasion of his state visit to the United States in December 1954.
Silk, cloth. L 274.4, W 183.0 cm
Eisenhower National Historic Site, EISE 7862
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Eisenhower and Iran
The carpet was one of many gifts Eisenhower received from the Shah of Iran in appreciation for America’s efforts to restore him to power in 1954. Eisenhower used the CIA to arrange the overthrow of democratically elected President Mossadegh who was nationalizing the country’s British controlled oil fields and who appeared to have ties with the communists. When Eisenhower visited Iran in 1959, the route of his motorcade from the airfield to the Marble Palace in Teheran was carpeted by Persian rugs.