1953 Coup d'état in Iran
On 19 August 1953 the American and British secret service removed Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh from government. He had been elected democratically, in fact, his government could be regarded as Iran's first and only democratic government. They restored the power of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a monarch, who discredited himself among the population through his authoritarian and suppressive rulership. American reporter Stephen Kinzer regards this coup as a „decisive turning point in twentieth-century history“, which ultimately lead to the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s and to the emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mohammad Mossadegh
Born in 1882, Mossadegh later studied in Paris and Switzerland, where he received his doctorate. He was elected Prime Minister in 1951, after he promised to nationalise Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and reclaim the country's vast oil reserves. His struggle for his country's independence brought him the status of a national hero and anti-imperialist leader in Iran but also among other statesmen in Africa and the Middle East.
British Imperialism and Iran
Even as early as the 19th century, Iran lay between the imperialist interests of the British and the Russian Empire. But Iran did not get Britain's full attention until oil became the important factor of the international struggle for power and wealth. In 1901 the British bought from the Iranian Shah the right „to obtain, exploit, develop, render suitable for trade, carry away and sell natural gas [and] petroleum […] for a term of sixty years.“ Out of this concession developed the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which later became British Petroleum or BP. Winston Churchill, who helped to further seize the country's oil industry in the late 1920, called the concessions „a prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams.“ Anglo-Iranian Oil company became on of the most profitable British businesses in the world.
However, the Iranian population felt exploited, especially after constitutional revolutions which had established the Iranian parliament. The Anglo-Persian treaties did not represent the population. The British were regarded as colonialist oppressors who made treaties with weak and self-seeking monarchs. When Mossadegh came to power he did as promised and nationalised the Iranian oil industry. The British accused Iran of stealing their property, but neither their appeals in the World Court and the United Nations, nor embargoes and threats helped to persuade the new Iranian government. The United Kingdom even considered an attack on Iran but due to the lack of US-support no attack was executed. Among countries that had to suffer from colonialist or imperialist forces the USA was still considered anti-imperialist. Much of the Iranian population and even the Prime Minister had a relatively positive attitude towards the United States. In fact, American president Truman followed a rather passive containment doctrine and rejected any British plans of reclaiming Iranian oil by force. The British finally persuaded the US when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in November 1952. According to Eisenhower and his State Secretary John Foster Dulles containment had failed and therefore had to be replaced by the more active doctrine of liberation and roll-back. During the talks with the American leaders the British switched their focus from oil to an alleged communist threat in Iran. The coup was then ordered by Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill.
Works cited
Kinzer, Stephen (2003). All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.
Weiner, Tim (2007). The Legacy of Ashes. The History of the CIA.