In 1953, Dulles was involved, along with Frank Wisner, in Operation Ajax, the covert operation that led to the removal of democratically elected prime minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadegh,[REF] and his replacement with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.
Several failed assassination plots utilizing CIA-recruited operatives from the Italian-American Mafia and anti-Castro Cubans directly against Castro undermined the CIA's credibility.