Mossaddeq instituted a coup against the Shah which failed. The Shah was the primary leader, not the Prime Minister.
Mossaddeq was dismissed as Prime Minister by the Shah - rather than yield to constitutional order, Mossadeq tried to overthrow the Shah, resulting in the chaos that followed, and the reclaiming of government power to be solely with the Crown. The Iranian Military came to their commander-in-chief’s aide, and the CIA and British intelligence also back them.
Mossaddeq halted the counting of votes to stay in power when it was clear his party was heading for a defeat, and seated only a fraction of the parliamentary seats to maintain power. Calling that “democratically elected” is quite a stretch. He engaged in two coups - against parliament and the system of elections to stay in power, then tried to overthrow the system of government by refusing to leave office when dismissed and tried to overthrow the Head of State.
But the resistance to these events is what history calls “the coup of 1953.”
Mossaddeq planned to nationalize the country’s oil business and break away from Britain who had been ripping Iran off for years. The British wanted a coup, but couldn’t conduct one on their own, so they whined to the CIA, who happily helped Britain continue to run the oil business in Iran.
You are quite right. As I have posted before:
The Shah was the reining monarch of Iran before Mosaddegh became Prime Minister.
Mosaddegh was never elected Prime minister.
The Iranian constitution gave the power to the Shah to name and remove the Prime Minister.
Mosaddegh was part of a coalition that included the communist Tudeh Party and hard line Islamists including the mentor of Khomeini.
Mosaddegh replaced the PM who was assassinated by the Islamists.
Mosaddegh had family ties to the Qajar Dynasty, that the Pahlavis had replaced in 1925.
At the time of the so-called “coup” Mosaddegh had lost almost all popular support, including amongst the hardliners. And that he tried to illegally dissolve the legislature.
Thanks.