Iranian Leader Mossadegh Is Overthrown
Muhammad Mossadegh was a prominent Iranian leader known for his role as a liberal politician and prime minister from April 1951 until his overthrow on August 19, 1953. He was an influential figure in the push for the nationalization of Iran's oil industry, challenging the dominance of foreign companies, particularly the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Mossadegh's increasing tensions with the Iranian monarchy, particularly with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, culminated in a political crisis that led to the shah fleeing the country in August 1953. However, Mossadegh's government was short-lived; a coup, orchestrated with support from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and British forces, led to his arrest and the restoration of the shah's power. Following his ousting, Mossadegh was imprisoned for treason and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest until his death in 1967. The events surrounding Mossadegh's removal have had lasting implications for U.S.-Iran relations and played a significant role in the socio-political landscape leading up to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, highlighting the complexities of foreign intervention in domestic politics.
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Iranian Leader Mossadegh Is Overthrown
Iranian Leader Mossadegh Is Overthrown
Iranian leader Muhammad Mossadegh (also spelled Mosaddeq) was overthrown on August 19, 1953.
Born on May 19, 1882, in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Mossadegh was educated abroad and became a liberal politician. He was charismatic and eccentric, eventually becoming a leader of antimonarchical elements who opposed the rule of the shah of Iran. Mossadegh was popular in the Iranian parliament, known as the Majlis, and became prime minister of Iran on April 29, 1951. He supported the nationalization of foreign oil interests, since Iran has enormous petroleum reserves and at the time this vast wealth was largely controlled by the Western companies that had discovered and developed the oil fields. After a dispute erupted between Mossadegh and the shah concerning the takeover of the British-dominated Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the monarch was forced to flee the country in August 1953. Loyalist supporters, backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and British undercover forces, staged a coup and seized Mossadegh on August 19. The shah returned, his power was restored, and Mossadegh was sentenced to three years in prison for treason. Afterward, Mossadegh lived under house arrest until his death on March 4, 1967. The memory of America's heavy-handed involvement in Iranian politics lingered, however, and contributed not only to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 but to the decades of ill will between the United States and Iran that followed.