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https://theconversation.com/70-years-ago-an-anglo-us-coup-condemned-iran-to-decades-of-oppression-but-now-the-people-are-fighting-back-211698>
"The 1953 coup d'etat in Iran ushered in a period of exploitation and
oppression that has continued – despite a subsequent revolution that led to
huge changes – for 70 years. Each year on August 19, the anniversary of the
coup, millions of Iranians ask themselves what would have happened if the US
and UK had not conspired all those years ago to overthrow Iran’s democratically
elected leader.
Iran, the Middle East and, arguably, the whole world may well have been
profoundly different. Apart from rewriting the destiny of Iran and its
neighbours, the coup paved the way for a series of imperialist interventions
and the toppling of democratically elected governments across the global south.
Perhaps Washington might have thought twice before plotting coups in Guatemala
in 1954, Congo in 1961 or Chile in 1973, if they’d been unable to overthrow
Iran’s prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, so easily and profitably.
As the democratically elected leader of Iran from 1951 to 1953, Mosaddegh
championed nationalisation of Iran’s oil industry. This had previously been in
the hands of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company – a British company, founded in 1909
after the discovery of a large oil field in Iran, which would later become BP.
In March 1951, Iran’s parliament voted to proceed with nationalisation. This
caused consternation in the west – most notably in Britain, where the prospect
of nationalisation was seen as potentially hugely damaging to the economy.
Furthermore, it would have undermined Britain’s influence in the Middle East.
Plotting to depose Mosaddegh began in earnest.
In the event, the coup – named Operation Ajax – was a joint venture between the
CIA and MI6. The shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had recently fled the country
after an earlier plot to remove Mossadegh had failed, returned to Iran.
Within a short period, he had tightened his grip on the country’s security
services and imposed a dictatorial regime which ruled through brutality and
fear. Pahlavi banned all opposition political parties, and many of the
activists who participated in the movement for nationalisation of oil were
arrested or fled the country."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
