CIA to Open Cold War Files, Bay of Pigs to Shah of Iran

The CIA is releasing thousands of documents on its Cold War operations, including the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the overthrow of the president of Guatemala in 1954, according to a published report.

Government officials in Washington said the agency would make public every historically important operation from 1950 to 1963, the New York Times reported in today’s editions.

Another notable event during this period was the 1953 coup that installed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran, ensuring Western access to Iranian oil.

The files are expected to be released by next year.

The government officials, who requested anonymity, acknowledged that release of the files would hurt the agency, due to the nature of the information. But they said it was necessary to keep a promise of openness following the end of the Cold War.

Also to be released in the coming year are CIA analyses of the Soviet Union from 1950 to 1983, including annual reports considered to be the most important product of American intelligence in that period, the newspaper reported.

The openness is a big change for an agency that has thrived on secrecy. The new policy began with former CIA Director Robert M. Gates during the George Bush Administration and has continued under his successor, R. James Woolsey.