It was retarded the first time he was installed as a Monarch. Without the Shah electrocuting everyone’s nuts off, it’s likely the Ayatollah would have ever had a shot of getting into power.
The Iranians were actually ready for some freedom personally, and from British domination, when we snuffed that out and elevated the Shah.
Mosaddegh was a decent guy. His mistake was thinking Iran should be in charge of it’s oil rather than Brits. He was an author, administrator, lawyer, and prominent parliamentarian, his administration introduced a range of progressive social and political reforms such as social security and land reforms, including taxation of the rent on land. His government’s most notable policy, however, was the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC) (later British Petroleum and BP).
Many Iranians regard Mosaddegh as the leading champion of secular democracy and resistance to foreign domination in Iran’s modern history. Mosaddegh was removed from power in a coup on 19 August 1953, organised and carried out by the CIA at the request of MI6, which chose Iranian General Fazlollah Zahedi to succeed Mosaddegh.
While the coup is commonly referred to in the West as Operation Ajax after its CIA cryptonym, in Iran it is referred to as the 28 Mordad 1332 coup, after its date on the Iranian calendar. Mosaddegh was imprisoned for three years, then put under house arrest until his death and was buried in his own home so as to prevent a political furor.
Good Analysis.
Yep, removing Mosaddegh was maybe the biggest US policy blunder of the 20th century.
It was the fear of the Soviets that gave us the Shah and Pakistan. The gift that keeps on giving.