Mohammad Mossadegh

Prime minister of Iran (1951-1953)

• Born: June 16, 1882
• Birthplace: Tehran, Persia (now in Iran)
• Died: March 5, 1967
• Place of death: Tehran, Iran

With a lifetime devoted to law and national service, Mossadegh led Iran into an era of prominence and independence and came to symbolize the nationalistic aspirations of peoples throughout the developing world. A U.S.-supported coup in 1953, which followed Mossadegh’s success at nationalizing oil production in Iran, led to his ouster.

Early Life

Mohammad Mossadegh (MOHS-ahd-ehk) was born into the distinguished Qājār Dynasty, which had ruled Persia (now Iran) from the late eighteenth century. His father served for thirty years as finance minister to Nasir al-Din Shah but died when Mossadegh was young. Mossadegh was raised to assume his father’s profession. He was immersed in politics and surrounded by government officials as he matured into adulthood. He witnessed the tobacco revolution of 1891, in which a popular protest against foreign control of the nation’s tobacco industry led people across the country, including the shah’s own wives, to put down their tobacco pipes.

In 1898, Mossadegh assumed his first post: tax auditor for the province of Khorasan. His uncle, Farmanfarma (Abdol Hossein Mirza), was a participant in the constitutional revolution of 1906, which established the Majlis, or parliament, and transformed the country into a fledgling democracy. In 1907, Mossadegh won a seat in the Majlis, representing the historic city of Isfahan. Two years later, the nation’s ruler, Mohammad Ali Shah, orchestrated an assault on the Majlis to stifle its independence. Frustrated with the brutality of his nation’s political system, Mossadegh fled to Europe.

Mossadegh studied law in France and Switzerland, but he returned periodically to Iran because of illness. Throughout his life, he was constitutionally weak, plagued by fatigue, nervousness, internal bleeding, and other symptoms that were never clearly diagnosed. Tall, with a high forehead, sad eyes, prominent nose, pallid skin, and slouching shoulders, he fit the profile of neither the dashing cosmopolitan nor the worldly statesman. He earned his doctorate of law in 1914 at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland with a dissertation on Shia jurisprudence.

Life’s Work

Mossadegh hoped for Swiss citizenship, but during a trip home he joined the faculty of law at the University of Tehran. In 1917, he became deputy finance minister, but his rigor in exposing corruption, which threatened the positions of powerful leaders, soon led to his dismissal. In 1919, while once again abroad, Mossadegh published leaflets and wrote letters of protest to the League of Nations about an agreement that solidified Great Britain’s control of Iranian oil resources.

On another visit home, Mossadegh reentered domestic politics: Passing through the province of Fars, he accepted an invitation to become its governor. He later served as minister of finance and as provincial governor of Azerbaijan. In 1924, preferring the autonomy of elected office to the precariousness of political appointment, he was reelected to the Majlis.

In 1925, the Qājār Dynasty was abolished and Reza Khan became the new shah as Reza Shah Pahlavi . Offered key posts, Mossadegh declined and resisted Reza Shah’s continuing self-empowerment. The shah manipulated the 1928 elections to oust Mossadegh from the Majlis, and Mossadegh retired to his country estate to study and farm. During the 1930’s, he was absent from public life. In 1941, the British forced Reza Shah to abdicate, and his indecisive son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi , ascended the throne.

In 1944, Mossadegh reemerged. Chairing the Majlis oil commission, he lobbied for nationalization to free Iran from imperialist domination. He passed a law forbidding further oil concessions. In 1949, when Mossadegh opposed the supplemental agreement proposed by the British to appease nationalist interests, the shah again manipulated elections. Allegedly unseated, Mossadegh held a protest at his home that was attended by thousands, and a three-day sit-in at the palace followed. The shah finally nullified the elections. Twenty protesters returned to Mossadegh’s house and formed a coalition named the National Front, and six gained seats in the new Majlis.

In November, 1950, Mossadegh’s oil commission rejected the supplemental agreement. The following March, General Ali Razmara, who favored accommodation with Britain, was assassinated. During debate over the shah’s proposed replacement, Mossadegh was accused of paralyzing the Majlis, and he was challenged by the shah to become prime minister. To everyone’s surprise, Mossadegh accepted the offer, under one condition: The Majlis had to approve nationalization of oil production in Iran, and it did so on March 15, 1951. Within weeks, Mossadegh was prime minister and the shah signed into law the revocation of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s monopoly over oil production, establishing the National Iranian Oil Company.

In July, U.S. statesman William Averell Harriman arrived in Iran to mediate the transition but to ensure the continuation of British management. Ever eccentric and sickly, Mossadegh met with Harriman while remaining in bed in his camelhair cloak. However, Mossadegh remained intractable on the issue of control, settling for nothing less than unequivocal nationalization. The British moved gunboats into the Persian Gulf, secretly developed plans for invasion, and imposed a boycott. Britain also appealed to the United Nations Security Council.

Mossadegh, too, appeared before the Security Council in New York to defend Iran to the world. Now an elder statesman and known for dramatic displays, he was very effective in his plea. The Security Council ruled the issue an internal Iranian affair. Following this victory at the United Nations, Mossadegh spoke with U.S. president Harry S. Truman and Assistant Secretary of State George McGhee in Washington, D.C., but could not reach an agreement with the British. Mossadegh was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 1951.

As prime minister, Mossadegh had domestic successes. He initiated transfers of wealth and levies on landlords, and he created rural banks. He sponsored irrigation projects, factory and mill construction, and greater output in key sectors. Through his policies, Iran’s trade balance improved significantly.

In October, 1952, Mossadegh shut down the British embassy in Iran after learning of plots to overthrow him. He also halted elections, ostensibly because of voter fraud, though he had purely political motives as well. After the shah rejected his nominee for war minister, Mossadegh resigned. The shah appointed a replacement, but popular outcry led to Mossadegh’s reinstatement after four days. Emboldened, Mossadegh vetted the government, declared martial law, and obtained emergency powers from the Majlis, which he then moved to dismiss altogether.

When U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in January, 1953, Mossadegh warned the new administration that Iran might turn to the Soviet Union for aid. The American media portrayed him as a madman, and American sympathy waned. The Central Intelligence Agency developed Operation Ajax, a plot to oust Mossadegh. With cooperation of the shah and his general, Fazlollah Zahedi, as well as religious leaders, operatives worked to discredit Mossadegh in the streets, mosques, and press.

During early August, CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt , Jr., the grandson of former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, made midnight palace visits to persuade the shah to sign firmans (specialized legal orders) to set the coup in motion. The shah finally agreed and, fearing for his safety, moved to a lodge near the Caspian Sea. On August 15, Colonel Nematollah Nassiri of the Imperial Guard arrived at Mossadegh’s house to arrest him, but the prime minister had been tipped off and had loyal guards waiting to arrest Nematollah instead. Mossadegh announced the failed coup on Iranian radio, arrested conspirators, and issued a reward for Zahedi, his presumed successor. (Zahedi would indeed become prime minister in 1953.) The shah left for Baghdad, and then for Rome.

Roosevelt persisted, however, rallying people in the streets. On August 19, an armed crowd moved through Tehran and attracted the support of military and religious factions. The mass of people moved toward Mossadegh’s house, where a bloody battle ensued. Hundreds of people were killed, including Foreign Minister Hossein Fatemi. Mossadegh escaped but was soon captured. In a public trial in January, 1954, the veteran politician spoke eloquently, vindicating himself in the public eye. He was sentenced to three years in prison and then house arrest, where he remained until his death on March 5, 1967.

Significance

Mossadegh was prime minister of Iran for twenty-six months, but through his actions in office, as well as his years of prior service, he left a long legacy. Mossadegh inspired and even mentored other political thinkers and future government officials in Iran. His example also inspired anticolonialists across Africa and Asia.

The 1953 coup was a major theme of subsequent U.S.-Iran dealings, and it was considered a motivation for the taking of American hostages in 1979 in Tehran. The coup perhaps played a part in Ayatollah Khomeini’s reasoning for holding the hostages through the 1981 presidential inauguration. Because the United States had toppled an Iranian leader, Iran would lead the downfall of an American president, in this case Jimmy Carter, who lost the election to Ronald Reagan in November, 1980.

Ironically, Mossadegh might have instigated a self-fulfilling prophecy with his intense fears of a foreign-supported coup. In turn, this coup, supported by outsiders, would come to validate Iranian nationalism and distrust of foreign powers, especially the United States and Great Britain.

Bibliography

Dreyfuss, Robert. Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. New York: Henry Holt, 2005. The chapter on the overthrow of Mossadegh draws parallels to that of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt and focuses on the role of religious factions in Mossadegh’s overthrow. Includes notes and index.

Gasiorowski, Mark J., and Malcolm Byrne, eds. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2004. Essays by leading scholars. The volume includes key CIA documents obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University through the Freedom of Information Act.

Keddie, Nikki R. Roots of Revolution: An Interpretive History of Modern Iran. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981. Though an older work, this book remains a clear discussion of modern Iranian history, offering insights into Mossadegh’s influence on Iran for decades after his overthrow. Includes photographs, notes, bibliography, and index.

Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley and Sons, 2003. Eminently readable and accessible; written with drama and a keen sense of storytelling. With photographs, notes, bibliography, and index.

Pollack, Kenneth M. The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America. New York: Random House, 2004. With a foreword by Strobe Talbott. An examination of the ongoing animosity between the United States and Iran, with a focus on reasons for the conflict. Annotated maps, notes, bibliography, index, photographs.