Mossadegh

In 1953, the reformist Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, was overthrown by a military coup orchestrated by the US and British intelligence services. His overthrow paved the way for the repressive rule of the Shah and his eventual overthrow by the Iranian Revolution 26 years later. It was also an important early Cold War moment in signaling how the US would approach the Middle East and the rest of the Third World. Learn more about the Mohammad Mossadegh coup, its causes, and its implications here.

Who Was Mohammad Mossadegh?

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was a lawyer, professor, and politician. His PhD in Law was the first received by an Iranian in Europe. He eventually became involved in politics, as his father and uncle had been before him.

However, he disagreed with the replacement of the King of Iran, or Shah, with Reza Khan Pahlavi in 1925 and temporarily retired from politics. In 1941, during the reign of Reza Khan's son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Mossadegh was reelected to the Iranian Parliament.

Fig 1 - Mohammad Mossadegh as Iranin Prime Minister.

Iran and Mossadegh's Politics

Once known as Persia, foreign influence had long played an important role in the development of Iran. Mossadegh and his National Front of Iran political movement hoped to reassert Iranian sovereignty against foreign influence, establish democratic reforms, and promote more even economic development.

Especially important for Iran in Mossadegh's eyes was the nationalization of the country's oil reserves. They were controlled by the British run Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (formerly known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and known today as British Petroleum, or BP).

The company had been given exclusive rights to Iranian oil until 1993 under a 1933 agreement. National control of the oil was seen as a way to limit foreign influence on Iran's internal politics and help the economy, not to mention it was a point of nationalist pride.

Although Iran was never formally conquered or colonized, it had been under the strong influence of European powers, namely the British, through a neocolonial relationship. The signing of oil agreements that granted the British broad rights to the oil were a key factor in the foreign influence and perceived control of the country.

Iran's Prime Minister Mossadegh

In April 1951, Mossadegh was made Iran's Prime Minister. Mossadegh had become a popular figure, and supporters demonstrated in support after his appointment. On the minds of many was reducing the foreign influence and control over Iran, especially as it related to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, but there was also hope for other reforms.

Economic Reforms in Iran Under Prime Minister Mossadegh

Mossadegh's government immediately instituted a number of important economic and social reforms. Conditions were improved for workers by requiring that companies pay benefits and sick leave, and peasant forced labor was ended. Unemployment insurance was also introduced.

A major land reform law was passed in 1952 as well. It required that large landholders place a portion of their incomes into a development fund that could be used to fund infrastructure and other public works projects.

Nationalization of the Oil

However, the most important step Mossadegh took as Iran's Prime Minister was his decision to cancel the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's contracts and expropriate their properties and equipment. He did so on May 1, 1952.

While widely popular in Iran, Prime Minister Mossadegh's actions set off a firestorm of criticism and tension with the British government, who controlled a majority stake in the company. The Cold War context would help give this dispute between Britain and Iran international dimensions.

Build up to the Mossadegh Coup

There were a number of factors that contributed to the Mossadegh Coup in 1953.

Early Cold War Context

By 1952, the Cold War was well underway, with Europe divided into a US aligned west and Soviet aligned east. China had become communist in 1949, and the Korean War was raging. There was a general attitude of fear towards a spread of communism around the world in the United States and Britain.

The Truman Doctrine, espoused by US President Harry Truman, had called for the US to act to prevent the spread of communism. The Middle East was seen as particularly strategically important due to the vast oil reserves there. Both the US and USSR had made overtures to countries there, many, like Iran, which had been subject to strong imperialist influence from Britain and France.

It's worth noting that Mossadegh was not a communist, nor did he pursue a relationship with the Soviet Union. In fact, he was publicly critical of communism. However, in the Cold War context, left learning political leaders who sought to implement reforms that were seen as hurting US, Western, and/or capitalist interests were often seen as threats.

This was the case with Mossadegh. The British government, angered over the nationalization of the oil, convinced President Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected in 1952 and taking office in early 1953, that Mossadegh was taking Iran down a path towards communism.

Iranian Internal Politics

Events in Iran themselves also played a role in the Mossadegh Coup. During elections in late 1951, Mossadegh halted the counting of votes from rural areas, where he had less support, and completion of the elections was indefinitely postponed.

Conservative opposition to Mossadegh rose, complicated by the loss in revenue due to a drop in oil production after the British oil companies refused to cooperate with the nationalization, cutting off production

In July 1952, Mossadegh resigned over a dispute between him and the Shah over control of the armed forces. Massive protests erupted in Tehran, and Mossadegh returned as Prime Minister, convincing the Parliament to give him emergency powers, which he used to further decrease the power of the monarchy in relation to the Parliament and his own position as Prime Minister.

He also instituted further land reform, weakening the power of large landholders and prompting more conservative opposition. Some of his previous political allies began to turn against him, and the stage was set for his removal.

Fig 2 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, who ruled Iran after the Mossadegh Coup.

The Removal of Mossadegh in 1953

The British government had cut off all diplomatic ties to Iran in late 1952. Iranian oil was seen as vital to their national security interests, and they had instituted a boycott of all trade with Iran. They sought US support in the removal of Mossadegh.

The US had previously opposed intervention in Iran, but the new Eisenhower administration was more willing to collaborate with the British in the removal of Mossadegh in 1953. In March, John Foster Dulles, the US Secretary of State, directed the recently created Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to make plans to overthrow Mossadegh.

These plans became known as Operation Ajax. A propaganda campaign was conducted against Mossadegh, including convincing Islamist groups that Mossadegh would move against them, turning them against him. Numerous meetings were also held with the Shah to convince him to dismiss Mossadegh.

In August 1953, the Shah agreed to go along with the plan and made a written order for the removal of Mossadegh. CIA organized demonstrations were also held across Iran. Pro-monarchy military forces intervened, and arrested Mossadegh. The Shah, who had fled to Rome during the coup, returned on August 22, and a new Prime Minister and cabinet, handpicked by the CIA, were installed.

Consequences of the 1953 Mossadegh Coup

Mossadegh was put on trial and sentenced to imprisonment for 3 years in a military prison and subsequent house arrest, under which he died in 1967.

The new government was heavily supported with economic aid from the US. Negotiations over the oil gave an international conglomerate, made up mostly of British and US firms, control of most of the oil. The Shah assumed increasingly dictatorial powers and oversaw the so-called White Revolution of modernization of Iran with the backing and support of the US.

Fig 3 - Mossadegh in custody during his trial after the 1953 coup.

Long-Term Implications for Iran

The removal of Mossadegh in 1953 became a rallying cry for Iranian nationalists, who resented the foreign meddling in Iranian affairs. Mossadegh's popularity only grew, and his legacy became a source of support for opposition to the Shah.

These long-term resentments were ultimately unleashed in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when the Shah was overthrown in favor of an extremely nationalist government headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. While Mossadegh was not an Islamist, and the clerics had withdrawn their support for him, he nonetheless became a useful propaganda symbol for the revolution.

Long-Term Implications for US Policy and the Cold War

The Mossadegh coup also signaled a new approach to foreign policy for the US. It was one of the first major actions of the CIA, which had been created in 1947.

Eisenhower used the new agency in indirect actions meant to further US interests and prevent leftist governments seen as sympathetic to communism from gaining power. A 1956 coup in Guatemala against Jacobo Arbenz followed a similar pattern to the Mossadegh coup, and Eisenhower authorized CIA plans to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba in what became the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Later actions by the CIA, such as the 1973 coup against Chilean President Salvatore Allende also followed in the legacy of the Mossadegh coup. The removal of Mossadegh in 1953 established a clear policy of the use of covert operations to further US Cold War foreign policy goals. It also established a pattern of willingness to support anti-democratic strongmen over democratically elected governments when those governments were seen as threats to US interests.