Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th
Prime Minister of Iran
The Prime Minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...
from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the
16th Majlis. He was a member of the
Iranian parliament
The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...
from
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
, and served through a contentious
1952 election into the
17th Iranian Majlis,
until his government was overthrown in the
1953 Iranian coup d'état
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état ( fa, کودتای ۲۸ مرداد), was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of ...
aided by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom (
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
) and the United States (
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
), led by
Kermit Roosevelt Jr.
Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000) was an American intelligence officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services during and following World War II. A grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United S ...
His
National Front was suppressed from the
1954 election.
Before its removal from power, his administration introduced a range of social and political measures such as social security, land reforms and higher taxes including the introduction of taxation on the rent of land. His government's most significant policy was the
nationalization of the Iranian oil industry
The nationalization of the Iranian oil industry resulted from a movement in the Iranian parliament (Majlis) to seize control of Iran's oil industry, which had been run by private companies, largely controlled by foreign interests. The legislatio ...
, which had been built by the British on Persian lands since 1913 through the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...
(APOC/), later known as
British Petroleum (BP).
In the aftermath of the overthrow,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
returned to power, and negotiated the
Consortium Agreement of 1954 with the British, which gave split ownership of Iranian oil production between Iran and
western companies until 1979.
Mosaddegh was imprisoned for three years, then put under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
until his death and was buried in his own home so as to prevent a political furor.
In 2013, the U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup, as a part of its foreign policy initiatives, including paying protestors and bribing officials.
Early life
![Mossadegh childhood](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Mossadegh_childhood.jpg)
Mosaddegh was born to a prominent Persian family of high officials in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
on 16 June 1882; his father, Mirza Hideyatu'llah Ashtiani, was the finance minister under the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
, and his mother, Princess Malek Taj Najm-es-Saltaneh, was the granddaughter of the reformist Qajar prince
Abbas Mirza
Abbas Mirza ( fa, عباس میرزا; August 26, 1789October 25, 1833) was a Qajar crown prince of Iran. He developed a reputation as a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 and the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, as ...
, and a great-granddaughter of
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلىشاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...
. When Mosaddegh's father died in 1892, his uncle was appointed the tax collector of the
Khorasan province and was bestowed with the title of Mosaddegh-os-Saltaneh by
Nasser al-Din Shah
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدینشاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...
. Mosaddegh himself later bore the same title, by which he was still known to some long after titles were abolished.
In 1901, Mosaddegh married Zahra Emami (1879–1965), a granddaughter of
Nasser al-Din Shah
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدینشاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...
through her mother Zi'a es-Saltaneh.
Education
In 1909, Mosaddegh pursued education abroad in Paris, France where he studied at the
Institut d'études politiques de Paris
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public research university''Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, accreditation ...
(Sciences Po). He studied there for two years, returning to Iran because of illness in 1911. After two months, Mosaddegh returned to Europe to study a
Doctorate of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
(''doctorate en Droit'') at the
University of Neuchâtel
The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. In June 1913, Mosaddegh received his doctorate and in doing so became the first Iranian to receive a PhD in Law from a European university.
Mosaddegh taught at the
Tehran School of Political Science
The Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran ( fa, دانشکده حقوق و علوم سیاسی دانشگاه تهران), is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Iran. It was initially established in C ...
at the start of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
before beginning his political career.
Early political career
Mosaddegh started his political career with the
Iranian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...
of 1905–07. At the age of 24, he was elected from
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
to the newly inaugurated Persian Parliament, the
Majlis of Iran
The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...
. However, he was unable to assume his seat, because he had not reached the legal age of 30.
During this period he also served as deputy leader of the
Society of Humanity
Society of Humanity ( fa, جامع آدمیت, Jāmeʿ-e Ādamīyat) was a pseudo-Masonic group in Persia, active from 1904 to 1908.
Inspired by the radical positivism of Saint Simon and the liberal humanism
Humanism is a philosophy ...
, under
Mostowfi ol-Mamalek
Mirza Hasan Ashtiani, commonly known by the bestowed title Mostowfi ol-Mamalek ( fa, مستوفیالممالک, lit=Chancellor of the Realm; 1871 – 1932) was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister on six occasions from 1910 to ...
.
In protest at the
Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1919, he relocated to Switzerland, from where he returned the following year after being invited by the new Iranian prime minister,
Hassan Pirnia
Hassan Pirnia ( fa, حسن پیرنیا ; 1871 – 20 November 1935), was a prominent Iranian politician of 20th-century Iran. He held a total of twenty-four posts during his political career, serving four times as Prime Minister of Iran. He ...
(Moshir-ed-Dowleh), to become his minister of justice. While en route to Tehran, he was asked by the people of
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
to become the governor of the
Fars Province. He was later appointed
finance minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
, in the government of
Ahmad Qavam
Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; fa, احمد قوام), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh ( fa, قوام السلطنه), was a politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran five times.
Early life
Qavam was born in 1873 to a ...
(Qavam os-Saltaneh) in 1921, and then
foreign minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
in the government of Moshir-ed-Dowleh in June 1923. He then became governor of the
Azerbaijan Province. In 1923, he was re-elected to the Majlis.
In 1925, the supporters of
Reza Khan
,
, spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort)Turan AmirsoleimaniEsmat Dowlatshahi
, issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess ShamsMohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza Prin ...
in the Majlis proposed legislation to dissolve the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
and appoint Reza Khan the new Shah. Mossadegh voted against such a move, arguing that such an act was a subversion of the
1906 Iranian constitution. He gave a speech in the Majlis, praising Reza Khan's achievements as prime minister while encouraging him to respect the constitution and stay as the prime minister. On 12 December 1925, the Majlis deposed the young Shah
Ahmad Shah Qajar
Ahmad Shah Qajar ( fa, احمد شاه قاجار; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was Shah of Persia (Iran) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the last ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.
Ahmad Shah was born in Tabriz on 21 Janu ...
, and declared Reza Shah the new monarch of the Imperial State of Persia, and the first Shah of the
Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...
. Mosaddegh then retired from politics, due to disagreements with the new regime.
In 1941,
Reza Shah Pahlavi
,
, spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort)Turan AmirsoleimaniEsmat Dowlatshahi
, issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess ShamsMohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza Prin ...
was forced by the British to abdicate in favor of his son
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
. In 1944, Mosaddegh was once again elected to parliament. This time he took the lead of ''Jebhe Melli'' (
National Front of Iran
The National Front of Iran ( fa, جبهه ملی ایران, Jebhe-ye Melli-ye Irân) is an opposition political organization
A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including politi ...
, created in 1949), an organization he had founded with nineteen others such as
Hossein Fatemi
Hossein Fatemi ( fa, حسین فاطمی; also Romanized as Hoseyn Fātemi; 10 February 1917 – 10 November 1954) was an Iranian scholar. A close associate of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, he proposed nationalization of Iranian oil and gas ...
,
Ahmad Zirakzadeh
Ahmad Zirakzadeh (6 March 1908 – 25 August 1993)http://postchinews.ir/احمد-زیرک-زاده-یار-صدیق-دکتر-مصدق/ ( fa, احمد زیرک زاده) was one of the founders of National Front of Iran, an Iranian party which was c ...
,
Ali Shayegan
Ali Shayegan ( fa, علی شایگان, ʿAli Šāygān; March 1, 1903 – May 15, 1981), was an Iranian politician and an opponent of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and lived in political exile in New York and New Jersey from 1958. Shayegan, one of ...
and
Karim Sanjabi
Karim Sanjabi ( fa, کریم سنجابی; 11 September 1905 – 4 July 1995) was an Iranian politician of National Front.
Early life
He was born in Kermanshah in September 1905 to the chief of the Kurdish Sanjâbi tribe. He studied law and ...
, aiming to establish democracy and end the foreign presence in Iranian politics, especially by nationalizing the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...
's (AIOC) operations in Iran. In 1947 Mossadegh once again announced retirement, after an electoral-reform bill he had proposed failed to pass through Majlis.
Prime Minister of Iran
Appointment as Prime Minister
![Mossadeghmohammad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Mossadeghmohammad.jpg)
On 28 April 1951, the Shah appointed Mosaddegh as Prime Minister after the Majlis (
Parliament of Iran
The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Pa ...
) nominated Mosaddegh by a vote of 79–12. The Shah was aware of Mosaddegh's rising popularity and political power, after a period of assassinations by
Fada'iyan-e Islam
Fadā'iyān-e Islam ( fa, فدائیان اسلام, also spelled as ''Fadayan-e Islam'' or in English "Fedayeen of Islam" or "Devotees of Islam" or literally "Self-Sacrificers of Islam") is a Shia fundamentalist group in Iran with a strong activi ...
and political unrest by the
National Front. Demonstrations erupted in Tehran after Mosaddegh's appointment, with crowds further invigorated by the speeches of members from the National Front. There was a special focus on the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and the heavy involvement of foreign actors and influences in Iranian affairs. Although Iran was not officially a colony or a protectorate, it was still heavily controlled by foreign powers beginning with concessions provided by the Qajar Shahs, and leading up to the oil agreement signed by
Reza Shah
Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...
in 1933.
The new administration introduced a wide range of social reforms: unemployment compensation was introduced, factory owners were ordered to pay benefits to sick and injured workers, and peasants were freed from forced labor in their landlords' estates. In 1952, Mossadegh passed the Land Reform Act which forced landlords to place 20% of their revenue into a development fund. This development fund paid for various projects such as public baths, rural housing, and pest control.
On 1 May, Mosaddegh nationalised the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...
, canceling its oil concession, which was otherwise set to expire in 1993, and
expropriating
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
its assets. Mossadegh saw the AIOC as an arm of the British government controlling much of the oil in Iran, pushing him to seize what the British had built in Iran. The next month, a committee of five majlis deputies was sent to Khuzistan to enforce the nationalization. Mosaddegh justified his nationalisation policy by claiming Iran was "the rightful owner..." of all the oil in Iran, and also pointing out Iran could use the money, in a 21 June 1951 speech:
The confrontation between Iran and Britain escalated as Mosaddegh's government refused to allow the British any involvement in their former enterprise, and Britain made sure Iran could sell no oil, which it considered stolen. In July, Mosaddegh broke off negotiations with AIOC after it threatened to "pull out its employees" and told owners of oil tanker ships that "receipts from the Iranian government would not be accepted on the world market." Two months later the AIOC evacuated its technicians and closed down the oil installations. Under nationalized management, many refineries lacked the trained technicians that were needed to continue production. The British government announced a ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' blockade and embargo, reinforced its naval force in the Persian Gulf and lodged complaints against Iran before the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
, where, on 15 October 1951, Mosaddegh declared that "the petroleum industry has contributed nothing to well-being of the people or to the technological progress or industrial development of my country."
![Mossadeghmohammadrezashah](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Mossadeghmohammadrezashah.jpg)
The British government also threatened legal action against purchasers of oil produced in the Iranian refineries and obtained an agreement with its sister international oil companies not to fill in where the AIOC was boycotting Iran. The entire Iranian oil industry came to a virtual standstill, oil production dropping almost 96% from in 1950 to in 1952. This
Abadan Crisis
The Abadan Crisis ( ''Bohrân Nafti Irân'', "Iran Oil Crisis") occurred from 1951 to 1954, after Iran nationalised the Iranian assets of the BP controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and expelled Western companies from oil refineries in t ...
reduced Iran's oil income to almost nothing, putting a severe strain on the implementation of Mosaddegh's promised domestic reforms. At the same time,
BP and
Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...
doubled their production in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, to make up for lost production in Iran so that no hardship was felt in Britain.
Still enormously popular in late 1951, Mosaddegh called elections, and introduced a modified version of his 1944 electoral reform bill. As his base of support was in urban areas and not in the provinces, the proposed reform no longer barred illiterate voters, but placed them into a separate category from literate voters, and increased the representation of the urban population. The opposition defeated the bill, on the grounds that it would "unjustly discriminate patriots who had been voting for the last forty years", thus leaving the National Front to compete against conservatives, royalists, and tribal leaders alike in the upcoming election.
His government came under scrutiny for ending the
1952 election before rural votes could be fully counted.
According to historian
Ervand Abrahamian
Ervand Abrahamian; hy, Երուանդ Աբրահամեան (born 1940) is an Iranian-American historian of the Middle East. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, Graduate Center of the City Un ...
: "Realizing that the opposition would take the vast majority of the provincial seats, Mosaddegh stopped the voting as soon as 79 deputies—just enough to form a parliamentary quorum—had been elected." An alternative account is offered by journalist
Stephen Kinzer
Stephen Kinzer (born August 4, 1951) is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former ''New York Times'' correspondent, he has published several books, and writes for several newspapers and news agencies.
Reporting career
During the 198 ...
: Beginning in the early 1950s under the guidance of
C.M. Woodhouse, chief of the British intelligence station in Tehran, Britain's covert operations network had funneled roughly £10,000 per month to the Rashidian brothers (two of Iran's most influential royalists) in the hope of buying off, according to CIA estimates, "the armed forces, the Majlis (Iranian parliament), religious leaders, the press, street gangs, politicians and other influential figures". Thus, in his statement asserting electoral manipulation by "foreign agents", Mosaddegh suspended the elections. His National Front party had made up 30 of the 79 deputies elected. Yet none of those present vetoed the statement, and completion of the elections was postponed indefinitely. The 17th Majlis convened in April 1952, with the minimum required of the 136 seats filled.
Throughout his career, Mosaddegh strove to increase the power parliament held versus the expansion of the crown's authority. But tension soon began to escalate in the Majlis. Conservative, pro-Shah, and pro-British opponents refused to grant Mosaddegh special powers to deal with the economic crisis caused by the sharp drop in revenue and voiced regional grievances against the capital Tehran, while the National Front waged "a propaganda war against the landed upper class".
Resignation and uprising
On 16 July 1952, during the royal approval of his new
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
, Mosaddegh insisted on the constitutional prerogative of the Prime Minister to name a Minister of War and the Chief of Staff, something the Shah had done up to that point. The Shah refused, seeing it as a means for Mosaddegh to consolidate his power over the government at the expense of the monarchy. In response, Mosaddegh announced his resignation appealing directly to the public for support, pronouncing that "in the present situation, the struggle started by the Iranian people cannot be brought to a victorious conclusion".
Veteran politician
Ahmad Qavam
Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; fa, احمد قوام), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh ( fa, قوام السلطنه), was a politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran five times.
Early life
Qavam was born in 1873 to a ...
(also known as Ghavam os-Saltaneh) was appointed as Iran's new Prime Minister. On the day of his appointment, he announced his intention to resume negotiations with the British to end the oil dispute, a reversal of Mosaddegh's policy. The National Front—along with various Nationalist, Islamist, and socialist parties and groups—including Tudeh—responded by calling for protests, assassinations of the Shah and other royalists, strikes and mass demonstrations in favor of Mosaddegh. Major strikes broke out in all of Iran's major towns, with the Bazaar closing down in Tehran. Over 250 demonstrators in Tehran, Hamadan, Ahvaz, Isfahan, and Kermanshah were killed or suffered serious injuries.
On the fourth day of mass demonstrations,
Ayatollah Abol-Ghasem Kashani called on the people to wage a "holy war" against Qavam. The following day, ''Si-ye Tir'' (the 30th of Tir on the Iranian calendar), military commanders ordered their troops back to barracks, fearful of over-straining the enlisted men's loyalty, and left Tehran in the hands of the protesters. Frightened by the unrest, Shah asked for Qavam's resignation, and re-appointed Mosaddegh to form a government, granting him control over the Ministry of War he had previously demanded. The Shah asked whether he should step down as monarch, but Mosaddegh declined.
Reinstatement and emergency powers
More popular than ever, a greatly strengthened Mosaddegh introduced a single-clause bill to parliament to grant him emergency "dictatorial decree" powers for six months to pass "any law he felt necessary for obtaining not only financial solvency, but also electoral, judicial, and educational reforms", in order to implement his nine-point reform program to bypass the stalled negotiations of the nationalization of the oil industry.
On 3 August 1952, the
Majlis
( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...
voted in approval, and elected Ayatollah Kashani as House Speaker. Kashani's Islamic scholars, as well as the
Tudeh Party
The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...
, proved to be two of Mosaddegh's key political allies, although relations with both were often strained.
In addition to the reform program, which intended to make changes to a broad region of laws covering elections, financial institutions, employment, the judiciary, the press, education, health, and communications services, Mosaddegh tried to limit the monarchy's powers, cutting the Shah's personal budget, forbidding him to communicate directly with foreign diplomats, transferring royal lands back to the state and expelling the Shah's politically active sister
Ashraf Pahlavi
Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi ( fa, اشرفالملوک پهلوی, , 26 October 1919 – 7 January 2016) was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (Persia), and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was considered the "p ...
.
However, six months proved not long enough, and Mosaddegh asked for an extension in January 1953, successfully pressing Parliament to extend his emergency powers for another 12 months.
Though the Shah had only in January 1951 initiated land reform, where all territory inherited by the Crown were sold to peasants at 20% of the assessed value over a payment period of 25 years,
Mosaddegh decreed a new land reform law to supersede it, establishing village councils and increasing the peasants' share of production. This weakened the landed aristocracy by imposing a 20% tax on their income—of which 20% was diverted back to the crop-sharing tenants and their rural banks, and also by levying heavy fines for compelling peasants to work without wages.
Mosaddegh attempted to abolish Iran's centuries-old feudal agriculture sector by replacing it with a system of collective farming and government land ownership, which centralized power in his government.
Ann Lambton
Ann Katharine Swynford Lambton, (8 February 1912 – 19 July 2008), usually known as A.K.S. Lambton or "Nancy" Lambton, was a British historian and expert on medieval and early modern Persian history, Persian language, Islamic political the ...
indicates that Mosaddegh saw this as a means of checking the power of the
Tudeh Party
The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...
, which had been agitating the peasants by criticizing his lack of land reform.
However, during this time Iranians were "becoming poorer and unhappier by the day", in large part due to the British-led boycott. As Mosaddegh's political coalition began to fray, his enemies increased in number.
Partly through the efforts of Iranians sympathizing with the British, and partly in fear of the growing dictatorial powers of the Prime Minister, several former members of Mosaddegh's coalition turned against him, fearing arrest. They included
Mozzafar Baghai
Mozzafar Baghai ( fa, مظفر بقائی; 23 July 1912 18 November 1987) is known best as an Iranian political figure of the 1940s and 50s. He rose to prominence during the national struggle against British control of Iran's oil industry. For de ...
, head of the worker-based Toilers party;
Hossein Makki
Seyyed Hossein Makki ( fa, سید حسین مکی) was an Iranian politician, orator and historian. He was a member of Parliament of Iran for three consecutive terms from 1947 to 1953.
The son of a ''bazaari'' merchant, Makki was an employee of N ...
, who had helped lead the takeover of the Abadan refinery and was at one point considered Mosaddegh's heir apparent; and most outspokenly Ayatollah Kashani, who damned Mosaddegh with the "vitriol he had once reserved for the British". The reason for difference of opinion among Makki and Mosaddegh was the sharp response of Mosaddegh to Kashani, who was an inoffensive scholar who attracted public support. Hossein Makki strongly opposed the dissolution of the parliament by Mossadegh and evaluated in the long run at his loss because with the closure of the parliament, the right to dismiss the Prime minister was made by the Shah.
Overthrow of Mosaddegh
Plot to depose Mosaddegh
The British government had grown increasingly distressed over Mosaddegh's policies and were especially bitter over the loss of their control of the Iranian oil industry. Repeated attempts to reach a settlement had failed, and, in October 1952, Mosaddegh declared Britain an enemy and cut all diplomatic relations. Since 1935, the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...
had the exclusive rights to Iranian oil. Earlier in 1914, the British government had purchased 51% of its shares and became the majority shareholder. After the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
converted its ships to use oil as fuel, the corporation was considered vital to British national security, and the company's profits partially alleviated Britain's budget deficit.
Engulfed in a variety of problems following World War II, Britain was unable to resolve the issue single-handedly and looked towards the United States to settle the matter. Initially, the USA had opposed British policies. After mediation had failed several times to bring about a settlement, American Secretary of State
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truman ...
concluded that the British were "destructive, and determined on a rule-or-ruin policy in Iran."
The American position shifted in late 1952 when
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
was elected U.S. president. In November and December, British intelligence officials suggested to American intelligence that the Iranian prime minister should be ousted. British prime minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
suggested to the incoming Eisenhower administration that Mosaddegh, despite the latter's open dislike of communism, would become reliant on the pro-Soviet
Tudeh Party
The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...
, resulting in Iran "increasingly turning towards
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
" and towards the Soviet sphere at a time of high
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
fears.
Though his suggestion was rebuffed by Eisenhower as "paternalistic", Churchill's government had already begun ''Operation Boot'', and simply waited for the next opportunity to press the Americans. On 28 February 1953, rumours spread by British-backed Iranians that Mosaddegh was trying to exile the Shah from the country gave the new Eisenhower administration the impetus to join the plan. The United States and the United Kingdom agreed to work together toward Mosaddegh's removal and began to publicly denounce Mosaddegh's policies for Iran as harmful to the country. In the meantime, the already precarious alliance between Mosaddegh and Kashani was severed in January 1953, when Kashani opposed Mosaddegh's demand that his increased powers be extended for a period of one year. Finally, to end Mossadegh's destabilizing influence that threatened the supply of oil to the West and could potentially pave the way for a communist takeover of the country, the US made an attempt to depose him.
Operation Ajax
![Prime Minister Mossadegh of Iran at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of WWI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Prime_Minister_Mossadegh_of_Iran_at_Tomb_of_the_Unknown_Soldier_of_WWI.jpg)
In March 1953,
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly ...
directed the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA), which was headed by his younger brother
Allen Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ov ...
, to draft plans to overthrow Mossadegh. On 4 April 1953, Dulles approved $1 million to be used "in any way that would bring about the fall of Mosaddegh". Soon the CIA's
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
station started to launch a propaganda campaign against Mossadegh. Finally, according to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', in early June, American and British intelligence officials met again, this time in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, and put the finishing touches on the strategy. Soon afterward, according to his later published accounts, the chief of the CIA's Near East and Africa division,
Kermit Roosevelt, Jr.
Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000) was an American intelligence officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services during and following World War II. A grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, the List of Presidents of the Unite ...
the grandson of U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, arrived in Tehran to direct it. In 2000, ''The New York Times'' made partial publication of a leaked CIA document titled ''Clandestine Service History – Overthrow of Premier Mosaddegh of Iran – November 1952 – August 1953''.
The plot, known as Operation Ajax, centered on convincing Iran's monarch to issue a decree to dismiss Mosaddegh from office, as he had attempted some months earlier. But the Shah was terrified to attempt such a dangerously unpopular and risky move against Mosaddegh. It would take much persuasion and many U.S. funded meetings, which included bribing his sister Ashraf with a mink coat and money, to successfully change his mind.
Mosaddegh became aware of the plots against him and grew increasingly wary of conspirators acting within his government.
[Trying to Persuade a Reluctant Shah](_blank)
''The New York Times'' 7 December 2009. According to
Dr. Donald N. Wilber, who was involved in the plot to remove Mossadegh from power, in early August, Iranian CIA operatives pretending to be socialists and nationalists threatened Muslim leaders with "savage punishment if they opposed Mossadegh", thereby giving the impression that Mossadegh was cracking down on dissent earlier than planned, and stirring anti-Mossadegh sentiments within the religious community. A
referendum to dissolve parliament and give the prime minister power to make law was submitted to voters, and it passed with 99 percent approval, 2,043,300 votes to 1300 votes against. According to Mark J. Gasiorowski, "There were separate polling stations for yes and no votes, producing sharp criticism of Mosaddeq" and that the "controversial referendum...gave the CIA's precoup propaganda campaign to show up Mosaddeq as an anti-democratic dictator an easy target". On or around 16 August, Parliament was suspended indefinitely, and Mosaddeq's
emergency powers
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
were extended.
Declassified documents released by the CIA in 2017 revealed that—after the Shah had fled to Italy—CIA headquarters believed the coup to have failed.
Following the initial failed coup by the foreign-backed General
Fazlollah Zahedi
Fazlollah Zahedi ( fa, فضلالله زاهدی, Fazlollāh Zāhedi, pronounced ; 17 May 1892 – 2 September 1963) was an Iranian lieutenant general and statesman who replaced the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh through a coup d'é ...
, the CIA sent Roosevelt a telegram on 18 August 1953 telling him to flee Iran immediately, but Roosevelt ignored it and began work on the second coup, circulating a false account that Mossadegh attempted to seize the throne and bribed Iranian agents.
![Shaban jafari](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Shaban_jafari.jpg)
Soon, massive popular protests, aided by Roosevelt's team, took place across the city and elsewhere with tribesmen at the ready to assist the coup, with anti- and pro-monarchy protesters, both being paid by Roosevelt.
By paying mobs to demonstrate, tricking Mossadegh into urging his supporters to stay home, and bribing and mobilizing officers against Mossadegh, he was able to force a military confrontation outside Mossadegh's home.
The protests turned increasingly violent, leaving almost 300 dead, at which point the pro-monarchy leadership, led by retired army General and former Minister of Interior in Mosaddegh's cabinet,
Fazlollah Zahedi
Fazlollah Zahedi ( fa, فضلالله زاهدی, Fazlollāh Zāhedi, pronounced ; 17 May 1892 – 2 September 1963) was an Iranian lieutenant general and statesman who replaced the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh through a coup d'é ...
, interceded, joined with underground figures such as the Rashidian brothers and local strongman
Shaban Jafari
Shaban Jafari ( fa, شعبان جعفری; 19 August 1921 – 21 March 2006), often known as Shaban the Brainless ( fa, شعبان بیمخ, Sha'bān-e Bi-mokh, links=no) or Shaban the Crown-Bestower ( fa, شعبان تاجبخش, Sha'bān-e T ...
. Pro-Shah tank regiments stormed the capital and bombarded the prime minister's official residence.
With loyalist troops overwhelmed, Mossadegh was taken into hiding by his aides, narrowly escaping the mob that set in to ransack his house. The following day, he surrendered himself at the Officers' Club,
where General Zahedi had been set up with makeshift headquarters by the CIA. Zahedi announced an order for his arrest on the radio, and Mosaddegh was transferred to a military jail shortly after.
[C.I.A. and Moscow Are Both Surprised](_blank)
''The New York Times'' 7 December 2009.
The Shah finally agreed to Mossadegh's overthrow after Roosevelt said that the United States would proceed with or without him,
[Kermit Roosevelt Jr. ''Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran'' (McGraw-Hill, 1979) .] and formally dismissed the prime minister in a written decree, an act that had been made part of the constitution during the Constitution Assembly of 1949, convened under martial law, at which time the power of the monarchy was increased in various ways by the Shah himself. As a precautionary measure, he flew to
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and from there hid safely in Rome. He actually signed two decrees, one dismissing Mosaddegh and the other nominating the CIA's choice, General
Fazlollah Zahedi
Fazlollah Zahedi ( fa, فضلالله زاهدی, Fazlollāh Zāhedi, pronounced ; 17 May 1892 – 2 September 1963) was an Iranian lieutenant general and statesman who replaced the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh through a coup d'é ...
, as Prime Minister. These decrees, called ''
Farmāns'', played a major role in giving legitimacy to the coup, and were further spread by CIA officials.
On 22 August, the Shah returned from Rome.
Zahedi's new government soon reached an agreement with foreign oil companies to form a consortium and "restore the flow of Iranian oil to world markets in substantial quantities", giving the United States and Great Britain the lion's share of the restored British holdings. In return, the US massively funded the Shah's resulting government, until the
Shah's overthrow in 1979.
As soon as the coup succeeded, many of Mosaddegh's former associates and supporters were tried, imprisoned, and tortured. Some were sentenced to death and executed. The minister of foreign affairs and the closest associate of Mosaddegh,
Hossein Fatemi
Hossein Fatemi ( fa, حسین فاطمی; also Romanized as Hoseyn Fātemi; 10 February 1917 – 10 November 1954) was an Iranian scholar. A close associate of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, he proposed nationalization of Iranian oil and gas ...
, was executed by order of the Shah's military court. The order was carried out by firing squad on 10 November 1954.
Trial, final years and death
![Mohammad Mosaddeq, Ahmadabad 1965](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Mohammad_Mosaddeq%2C_Ahmadabad_1965.jpg)
On 21 December 1953, Mossadegh was sentenced to three years' solitary confinement in a military prison, well short of the death sentence requested by prosecutors. After hearing the sentence, Mossadegh was reported to have said with a calm voice of sarcasm: "The verdict of this court has increased my historical glories. I am extremely grateful you convicted me. Truly tonight the Iranian nation understood the meaning of constitutionalism."
Mossadegh was kept under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
at his
Ahmadabad residence, until his death on 5 March 1967.
He was denied a funeral and was buried in his living room, despite his request to be buried in the public graveyard, beside the victims of the political violence on 30 Tir 1331 (21 July 1952).
[Eccentric Nationalist Begets Strange History](_blank)
''The New York Times'' 7 December 2009.
Electoral history
Legacy
Iran
![Mosaddegh stamp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Mosaddegh_stamp.jpg)
Although Mosaddegh was never directly elected as Prime Minister, he enjoyed massive popularity throughout most of his career. Despite beginning to fall out of favor during the later stages of the Abadan Crisis,
the secret U.S. overthrow of Mosaddegh served as a rallying point in anti-US protests during the 1979
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, and to this day he is one of the most popular figures in Iranian history.
[Noreena Hertz, ''The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy'', HarperCollins, 2003, , Page 88]
The withdrawal of support for Mosaddegh by the powerful Shia clergy has been regarded as having been motivated by their fear of a communist takeover.
[Nasr, Vali, ''The Shia Revival'', Norton (2006), p. 124.] Some argue that while many elements of Mosaddegh's coalition abandoned him, it was the loss of support from
Ayatollah Abol-Ghasem Kashani and another cleric that was fatal to his cause,
reflective of the dominance of the
Ulema
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
in Iranian society and a portent of the Islamic Revolution to come. The loss of the political clerics effectively cut Mosaddegh's connections with the lower middle classes and the Iranian masses which are crucial to any popular movement in Iran.
U.S.
The US role in Mosaddegh's overthrow was not formally acknowledged for many years, although the Eisenhower administration vehemently opposed Mossadegh's policies. President Eisenhower wrote angrily about Mosaddegh in his memoirs, describing him as impractical and naive.
Eventually, the CIA's involvement with the coup was exposed. This caused controversy within the organization and the CIA congressional hearings of the 1970s. CIA supporters maintained that the coup was strategically necessary, and praised the efficiency of the agents responsible. Critics say the scheme was paranoid, colonial, illegal, and immoral—and truly caused the "blowback" suggested in the pre-coup analysis. The extent of this "blowback", over time, was not completely clear to the CIA, as they had an inaccurate picture of the stability of the Shah's regime. The
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
of 1979 caught the CIA and the US very much off guard (as CIA reporting a mere month earlier predicted no imminent insurrectionary turbulence whatsoever for the Shah's regime), and resulted in the overthrow of the Shah by a fundamentalist faction opposed to the US, headed by
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
. In retrospect, not only did the CIA and the US underestimate the extent of popular discontent for the Shah, but much of that discontent historically stemmed from the removal of Mosaddegh and the subsequent clientelism of the Shah.
In March 2000, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
stated her regret that Mosaddegh was ousted: "The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons. But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development and it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America." In the same year, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' published a detailed report about the coup based on declassified CIA documents.
British
Mosaddegh's overthrow had a direct relationship with the creation of an Islamic revolution and the collapse of the Pahlavi government. America's close relationship with the Shah and the subsequent hostility of the United States to the Islamic Republic and Britain's profitable interventions caused pessimism for Iranians, stirring nationalism and suspicion of foreign interference.
Mosaddegh in the media
*Mosaddegh was named
man of the year in 1951 by
''Time''. Others considered for that year's title included
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truman ...
, General (and future President)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
and General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
.
*The figure of Mosaddegh was an important element in the 2003 French TV production ', which deals with the life of the Shah's second wife and former Queen of Iran, Princess
Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary ( fa, ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری, Sorayâ Esfandiâri-Baxtiâri; 22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001) was Queen of the Imperial State of Iran as the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom she mar ...
. Mosaddegh's role was played by the French actor
Claude Brasseur
Claude Brasseur (15 June 1936 – 22 December 2020) was a French actor.
Life and career
Claude Brasseur was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Claude Pierre Espinasse, the son of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux. He was the godson of E ...
.
*In ''
Argo
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
'', Malick (Victor McCay) references Mosaddegh and the coup as he and Bates (
Titus Welliver
Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in ''Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O’Phelan in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television seri ...
) try to deal with the situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
*A short 24-minute film titled ''Mosaddegh'', directed by Roozbeh Dadvand, was released in 2011. The role of Mosaddegh was played by Iranian-American actor
David Diaan
David Diaan, also known as David Davoodian, is a Los Angeles–based actor, writer, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his satirical plays and his hilarious approach to issues surrounding the Iranian American community in the USA. ...
.
*An independent video game called ''
The Cat and the Coup
''The Cat and the Coup'' is a puzzle video game by Peter Brinson and Kurosh ValaNejad. The game follows the life of Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh, and his subsequent downfall through a CIA and MI6 engineered coup during the 1950s. On ...
'' was released in 2011. It features the player playing as Mosaddegh's cat reversing Mosaddegh's life to the beginning.
*In the
2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Senator
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
, during debates, interviews, and speeches, repeatedly praised Mosaddegh's "secular, democratic government", while commenting on the 1953 CIA-backed coup, stating that it is a "bad example of U.S. foreign policy", resulting in "negative unintended consequences and dictatorships". Another candidate, Governor
Martin O'Malley
Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007.
O'Malley ...
, said similar things.
*In ''
Coup 53
''Coup 53'' is a 2019 British documentary about the 1953 Iranian coup d'état to overthrow Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, co-written and directed by Taghi Amirani and co-written and edited by Walter Murch.
Production
The film, direct ...
'', a 2021 documentary, co-writers
Taghi Amirani
Taghi Amirani is an Iranian-born English physicist and documentary filmmaker who lives in the United Kingdom. He has worked primarily in television, prior to the release of the film documentary Coup 53 in 2019.
Early life and education
Taghi Ami ...
and
Walter Murch
Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on ''THX 1138'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', ''Ame ...
assess new archive material about the 1953 CIA-backed coup of Mossadegh. The documentary's primary contribution is to uncover the extent of MI6 involvement, particularly that of
Norman Darbyshire
Norman Darbyshire (1924–1993) was a British spy who worked for the SOE and the MI6. He played a key role in the 1953 coup d'état that overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh, the democratically-elected prime minister of Iran.
Espionage career
Darbysh ...
, the operative who led MI6's involvement in the coup. According to the newly-discovered archive material, Darbyshire was involved in the kidnapping, torture, and assassination of General Mahmoud Afshartous, Mossadegh's chief of police, and the bribing of
Princess Ashraf
Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi ( fa, اشرفالملوک پهلوی, , 26 October 1919 – 7 January 2016) was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia), and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was consi ...
, the twin sister of Shah Reza Pahlavi, to obtain the Shah's approval for the coup. The British government has never admitted its involvement in the overthrow of Mossadegh.
*In neighboring Afghanistan, support and sympathy for Mossadegh was evident in 1953 article in Kabul-based Pamir Newspaper under the title "A friendly suggestion to the great nation of Iran", urging the authorities of the time to use best judgement during the trial regarding a man like Mossadegh.
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Yves Bomati et Houchang Nahavandi: ''Mohammad Réza Pahlavi, le dernier shah – 1919–1980''. Editions Perrin, 2013.
* Abrahamian, Ervand, ''Khomeinism: essays on the Islamic Republic.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, c 1993. 0-520-08173-0
* Amir Taheri, ''The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution''. Encounter Books, 2009,
* Farhad Diba, ''Mohammad Mossadegh; A Political Biography''. London: Croom Helm, 1986,
*
* Mark Gasiorowski, ''U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran'', Cornell University Press, 1991,
* Mary Ann Heiss, ''Empire and Nationhood: The United States, Great Britain, and Iranian Oil, 1950–1954'', Columbia University Press,1997,
* Sattareh Farman Farmaian & Dona Munker, ''Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem through the Islamic Revolution''. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006.
*
Stephen Kinzer
Stephen Kinzer (born August 4, 1951) is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former ''New York Times'' correspondent, he has published several books, and writes for several newspapers and news agencies.
Reporting career
During the 198 ...
, ''
All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror'', John Wiley & Sons, 2003,
* Stephen Kinzer, ''
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq'', Times Books, 2006,
*
Nikki R. Keddie
Nikki R. Keddie (née Anita Ragozin, August 30, 1930) is an American scholar of Eastern, Iranian, and women's history. She is Professor Emerita of History at University of California, Los Angeles.
Biography
Keddie was born in Brooklyn, New York. ...
, ''Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution'', Yale University Press, 2003,
*
Homa Katouzian
Homa Katouzian (Persian: همايون کاتوزیان; born Homayoun Katouzian on 17 November 1942) is an economist, historian, sociologist and literary critic, with a special interest in Iranian studies. Katouzian's formal academic training wa ...
, ''Musaddiq and the Struggle for Power in Iran'', I B Tauris & Co, 1991,
* ''Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran'', edited by Mark J. Gasiorowski and Malcolm Byrne. Translated into Persian as ''Mosaddegh va Coup de Etat'' by Ali Morshedizad, Ghasidehsara Pub. Co.
*
* Tom Gabbay ''The Tehran Conviction''. William Morrow, 2009 .
*
Christopher de Bellaigue
Christopher de Bellaigue (born 1971 in London) is a journalist who has worked on the Middle East and South Asia since 1994. His work mostly chronicles developments in Iran and Turkey.
Biography
De Bellaigue, who attended Eton College, is from an ...
, ''Patriot of Persia'', .
External links
Mohammad Mosaddeq biography Iran Chamber Society
Book and declassified documents from the
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The Nat ...
, 22 June 2004
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosaddegh, Mohammad
Commanders-in-Chief of Iran
1882 births
1967 deaths
20th-century Iranian people
Finance ministers of Iran
Iranian democracy activists
Iranian expatriates in France
Iranian expatriates in Switzerland
Iranian governors
Iranian nationalists
Iranian social democrats
Iranian secularists
Leaders ousted by a coup
Liberalism in Iran
Asian social liberals
Democrat Party (Persia) politicians
Moderate Socialists Party politicians
National Front (Iran) MPs
Leaders of the National Front (Iran)
Politicians from Tehran
Prime Ministers of Iran
Qajar dynasty
Sciences Po alumni
University of Neuchâtel alumni
Deputies of Tehran for National Consultative Assembly
People who have been placed under house arrest in Iran
Iranian elected officials who did not take office
Members of the 5th Iranian Majlis
Members of the 6th Iranian Majlis
Members of the 14th Iranian Majlis
Members of the 16th Iranian Majlis
Mostowfian Ashtiani family
Time Person of the Year
Foreign ministers of Iran
Defence ministers of Iran