Operation Ajax (Iran)
It all started with the 35th Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh. This man was loved by the Iranian people and democratically voted to his position in 1951. He made it clear to everyone that he was not fond of the fact that his country’s internal affairs were being influenced and manipulated by foreign actors. Alongside the introduction of numerous social reforms, his main focus was on nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) (1)(2).
Mosaddegh believed that the UK was ripping them off and stealing their resources. His ideas were supported by everyone, and so Iran’s oil industry quickly became nationalized, meanwhile foreign corporate representatives were sent off from Iran. It was believed that these actions were long overdue, as people have been watching their wealth disappear into the hands of westerners.
While Mosaddegh’s popularity grew among his own people, the UK was displeased by his actions. They organized a worldwide boycott of Iranian products (3), increased their naval power in the Persian Gulf, and asked the US for help. Then-president, Harry Truman, was not interested, but once Dwight Eisenhower took office in 1953, it was go time. Britain’s argument was that Mosaddegh would easily be influenced by Russia to partner up (the Cold War pretext).
Hence Operation Ajax was born. It’s goal was to first convince the Shah that Mosaddegh had to be dismissed, and secondly (and most importantly), take back control of the oil fields in Iran. After many negotiations and bribing of the Shah and his family, a planned and fabricated coup was to take place.
The UK’s BBC had a branch in Iran, and used that as a main platform to spread propaganda against Mosaddegh. People were hired by the CIA to stage pro-Shah riots and to stir the political situation in Iran. A “communist revolution” was starting to take place as well (prepared of course by the US). Clashes in the streets were more frequent between groups with opposing political opinions. All of this took a major toll on Mosaddegh’s popularity, as people were starting to blame him for the economic and political crisis. He started to use his “emergency powers” to rule, and this was a sign to people that he had become a dictator.
One thing led to another, and in mid-1953, Mosaddegh was officially overthrown. This coup orchestrated entirely by the US and the UK is today a major part of Iranian history. The year that the UK and the US overthrew Iran’s democracy In 1954, control of Iran’s oil was handed to a total of 8 oil companies, 5 of which were American.
Notes:
(1)
This company was able to enter Iran in the first place when, in 1901, a British millionaire negotiated with the then-Shah of Persia (King of Persia) to grant him rights to explore, export, transport and sell petroleum and natural gas in Persia. In return, the Shah received a lot of money and 16% of net profits of the AIOC from their operations. This was called the D’Arcy Concession. And this entire operation was completely backed the the UK government, who, back then (and still to this day) was in a rivalry against Russia. This agreement was a key component of UK’s plan to stop Russia’s influence and have control over an important geographical position.
(2)
AIOC later became BP (British Petroleum).
(3)
This blockade put a serious strain on Iran’s economy, and disallowed Mosaddegh to actually keep his promises regarding domestic reforms.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Persian_Oil_Company https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ybj5KULmA&feature=emb_title