PM Mosaddegh nationalized Iran's oil industry in the early 1950s. Churchill needed Iranian oil under BP Oil as he claimed it all belonged to Britain. MI6 stoked anti-Mosaddegh sentiment with the aim of setting up a pro-Western government and resume oil production. He eventually contacted hte US CIA to plan the coup. AT the time, Iran was developing democractic systems such as a parliament with parties. Mosaddegh was a reformer as part of the National Front party. When the coup occurred, all democratic progress was snuffed out instantly. The Shah believed the coup was a vote of confidence in himself and asserted his power using the military and secret police to crush opposition. The next 25+ years were marked by brutal oppression of the Iranian secular people, a stark contrast from the democratic state that was developing prior.
The Shah would become known as an American puppet due to his relations to the US and friendly manner toward Israel. Over the years he tooks teps to protect Americans in Iranian courts. This alienated the Iranian people from the US and fomented negative sentiment.
By the late 1970's, Kohmeini Ayatollah quickly gained support from the Iranians, stating "oppressors are to be judged and the Satanic government is to be abolished". The Shah's oppressive regime hit a breaking point and Khomeini returned to Tehran with thousands of supporters in the streets, and the Iranian military rose up against the Shah.
Works cited:
A.H.H Abidi “The Iranian Revolution: Origins and Dimensions.” Intl Studies 18, no. 2 (1979)
Hugh Wilford, America’s Great Game: CIA’s Secret Arabists Shaping of the Modern ME (New York, 2013)
Betty Glad, Outsider White House: Jimmy Carter, Advisors, andAmerican Fopo (Ithaca: Cornell Press 2009),
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God, I hate effort posting to reply to Jewish trolls, but the JIDF is just in full force today!
