On this day in 1953, the U.S. and British governments initiated a coup d’état against the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had been preparing to nationalize Iran’s British-owned oil fields.
Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), later re-named British Petroleum, and to limit the company’s control over Iranian oil reserves. When the AIOC refused to cooperate with the Iranian government, the parliament voted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country.
In response, the British began a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically and engaged in subterfuge to undermine Mosaddegh’s government.
Judging Mosaddegh to be unreliable and fearing a communist takeover, Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration overthrew Iran’s government. The coup action was also supported by the Iranian clergy, who opposed Mosaddegh’s secularism.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hired mobsters to stage pro-Shah riots and paid people to travel to Tehran and take over the streets of the city. Between 200 and 300 people were killed in the ensuing mayhem.
Mosaddegh was arrested, tried, and convicted of treason by the Shah’s military court. Many of his supporters were imprisoned, several received the death penalty. Mosaddegh himself lived the rest of his life under house arrest, dying in 1967.
After the coup, the Shah ruled as a monarch for the next 26 years until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
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The Iranian coup, 1953 libcom
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I was a guest (through my partner) to someone’s surprise birthday party so didn’t know anyone that was there. At some point, we were all sitting around a table, a couple began talking about going to a recent drag show but felt it became ‘too political’ when the drag queen kept talking about Palestine etc… The couple accused the drag queen of speaking without having all of the information to which I asked what information they were missing and the girl responded with something along the lines of how LGBTQ individuals would be treated in Gaza/Palestine, being a Muslim country. I was immediately filled with rage and contempt for what I’m hearing and just made a point that oppressed peoples from different parts of society can and should support one another but still really feel like I should have expressed more of what was racing through my mind that actually she’s the misinformed moron and boohoo that your fun evening was soured by someone advocating for Palestine.
Edit: also just making the connection now that this thread is about the Iranian coup d’etat because I thought about this event (and more current events) when her boyfriend, who said he is from Iranian heritage, didn’t agree with Iranian kids being taught at a young age to trample over the Israeli flag. So weird