1953 Coup replaced Iran’s elected government with Fascist dictatorship

If we think the US enmity with Iran started with the events of 1979 that ousted the pro-American Pahlavi potentate and led to the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, under the leadership of that Sage of the Age, Imam Khomeni (God bless him), then we are definitely mistaken.

The beginning of US hostility towards Iran should be traced back to 28^th Mordad of the Iranian calendar or 19^th August 1953, when the Americans and the British joined together to carry out a coup against the elected government and replace it with the Fascist dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had fled the country. The following article is a well-researched piece in this regard by Sadeq Abbasi, Postgraduate student at Tehran University, with specialization in history.

The 1953 coup toppled the democratically elected government of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq and established a dictatorship in Iran. This coup, in which the CIA admitted to having played a role, was organized by Britain and the United States.  However the two states never offered the Iranian nation an apology for their anti-democratic plot which took the life of 300 citizens. Kermit Roosevelt, the mastermind behind the coup writes in his memo:

“Mosaddeq’s nationalization of the billion-dollar oil holdings of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., a British consortium later renamed British Petroleum, had aroused concern. The possibility of major damage not only to British but also to American, Western European and Japanese interests, was real”.

Roosevelt’s admission of his role is a clear proof of backstabbing by Washington, which until then had given the impression to Mosaddeq that the US, unlike imperialist Britain, had no colonialist ambitions, and would support the democratic aspirations of other countries. It was deception and a guise to keeping the coup secret until the last moments. The coup, codenamed “Operation Ajax” by the CIA, took only three weeks. The fugitive Shah was restored to the throne and the United States was able to safeguard its vested interests in Iran.

What Mosaddeq did to gain Iranian independence was great but it was not enough. Instead of teaming with the ulema, especially the supporters of Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassem Kashani, he formed alliances with the communist Tudeh Party who were pro-Soviet and completely at odds with Western interests. As long as Mosaddeq was close to Ayatollah Kashani and heeded his guidelines, US president Harry Truman did not dare act against his government because of the Iranian people’s reaction. The action taken by Mosaddeq to nationalize Iran’s oil meant that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. (AIOC later named BP), most of whose stock was owned by the British government, would lose every right to exploit the Iranian oil, a concession that was gained through bribery and illegal means by the British company despite a large popular opposition in Iran to the D’Arcy Concession, a colonial-style treaty between Britain and Iran.

The fatal mistake of Mosaddeq was to ignore the guidelines of Ayatollah Kashani and side with the communist Tudeh Party which gave the British and the Americans a double reason to plot a coup against his government. It is interesting to note that Kermit Roosevelt interprets as “alarming” the Iranian government’s siding with the communist Tudeh Party, and writes in his memo as a conclusion that “Mosaddeq was stealing Iran little by little, and the Soviet Union would gain control.”

In the end, the Tudeh party also left Mosaddeq alone because they found out that he was not committed to the socialist cause and was tilted towards the US. Mosaddeq actually trusted the US and thought that the Americans would help him in the face of the British. In this context, it became obvious for the Iranians that the terms “freedom” and “democracy” were merely disguises for US pursuit of its vested interests. Donald Wilber, the CIA agent who planned Operation Ajax has written a version of CIA history. In his account he refers clearly to the US administration’s “preference” for someone opposed to the Soviet Union. He writes: “General Walter Bedell Smith, Undersecretary of State, determined that the US Government could no longer approve of the Mosaddeq government and would prefer a successor government in which there would be no National Frontists.”    In Wilber’s account, the CIA had allotted a million US dollars to carry out the plot which was put into full use for overthrowing the Iranian democracy by CIA Tehran Station in the US embassy. Recent estimates, however, appraise the amount allotted something between 10 to 20 million dollars. The embassies were an important asset to carry out a coup. Mosaddeq closed down the British embassy over the overwhelming evidence that Britain is planning a coup. Still resolved on undoing the nationalization of Iran’s oil, the British approached the American administration. The embassy close down by Mosaddeq adjourned the coup for two years until the British reached an agreement with US President Dwight Eisenhower over a coup against Mosaddeq. After a comprehensive study on the situation’s main players, the Shah and a pro-Nazi general called Fazlollah Zahedi were proven to be good pawns. The choice was made despite the fact that at the time Nazi sympathizers were being prosecuted across the European continent while in Iran US and Britain were trying hard to bring pro-Nazis to power. General Zahedi’s importance in the eyes of the US administration was marked by a five-million dollar aid to his post-coup government and this attitude was of great concern for the Shah since it made him suspicious of another US coup against him.

The assets that SIS (later MI6) disclosed to CIA for carrying out the coup consisted of certain agents in the Iranian armed forces who were in favour of the British. This list also included people among Iranian MPs, the press, street gangs, politicians, and other influential figures. In order to make the coup gain a much legal appearance, the CIA started to exploit the available means to turn the Iranian public opinion against Mosaddeq. In line with the “grey” propaganda, the CIA Art Group started to produce anti-Mosaddeq cartoons. Some editors were paid to spread rumors against Mosaddeq. Initially Mosaddeq managed to foil the plot at the first stage of the coup, while the Shah who issued an order to depose Mosaddeq fled the country for Rome. On 18^th of August Ayatollah Kashani wrote a letter to Mosaddeq warning him of symptoms of another coup which was looming and offered him a helping hand despite the differences between the two; but Mosaddeq refused his offer of help. Mosaddeq, in his short and clearly humiliating response to Ayatollah Kashani, wrote:

“Your letter has been received. I am counting on the nation’s support and trust.”

This was an arrogant reply to a popular religious leader and shows Mosaddeq’s misplaced trust in the communists at home and the US abroad – two entirely contradictory currents. On 19th of August, the agents who were playing a role in the coup used the Government’s inactivity and confusion to attempt another coup. Mosaddeq, to the surprise of his supporters, asked them not to take part in any demonstration or engage in any act of resistance as he feared a communist takeover given a full-fledged presence of the Tudeh Party during this turmoil, a fear shared by the ulema that made them choose not to support Mosaddeq since he initially chose to enjoy a communist base of support – a tactical mistake.

A lack of support from the ulema cut Mosaddeq from the Iranian masses, who were and are, largely in favour of the political role of Islam which is a key element for the success of any popular movement in Iran. In this background, Mosaddeq was overthrown during a royalist coup while he was alienated by both clerics and the communist Tudeh Party.

Thus, the 19^th of August was a blow against democracy and humanity and established one of the darkest times in Iranian history. The members of the coup regime were mostly comprised of fascists and Nazi sympathizers headed by General Fazlollah Zahedi who had a record of being arrested during World War II by the British for making an attempt to form a Nazi government in Iran. Now the same forces who stopped him then, brought him to power and financially supported him:  providing him with dollar 100,000 before the coup, dollar 5 million the day after the coup, dollar 28 million a month later, and dollar 40 million a year later in 1954 after this regime signed the oil consortium deal. According to this new deal the consortium agreed to share profits on a 50–50 basis with Iran "but not to open its books to Iranian auditors or to allow Iranians onto its board of directors." The pre-coup falsifications were again in place. The fascist cabinet of Zahedi was comprised of Bahram Shahrokh, a trainee of the notorious Nazi Joseph Goebbels and Berlin Radio's Persian language programme announcer during the Nazi rule, who later was appointed director of propaganda. And Ja’far Sharif-Emami, who had also been imprisoned for his pro-Nazi activities in the 1940s became Secretary General of the Oil Industry, President of the Senate, and served twice as Prime Minister.

Thus, this is the root of US treachery and hostility against Iran, which intensified with the triumph of the grassroots Islamic movement of the Iranian people in 1979 under Imam Khomeini, who ended for good all western and American interests in Iran.

AS/MG