Western-led coup of Mossadegh is a marker of colonial policy: Iran FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
20 Aug 2023

In remembrance of the August 28, 1953, coup Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says coups, sanctions, and soft power are how the West deals with progressive movements around the world.

Iranians burn a US flag during a demonstration against American "crimes" in Tehran on January 3, 2020. (AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says that Western governments are pushing hard to suppress the progression of independent nations.

"Influence, coup d'état, economic sanctions, hard and soft warfare are all tools that arrogant powers (The West) use to suppress the will of independent countries," Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on X on Saturday.

The post came in remembrance of the 70th anniversary of the 1953 military coup carried out by American and British intelligence apparatuses to topple Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

The top Iranian diplomat pointed to the event as a marker of the behavior of colonial powers who deal with progressive revolutions around the world along the same line, no matter what the politics of those who come to power may be.

بازخوانی کودتای ۲۸ مرداد نشان می‌دهد که واکنش استعمار قدیم و نوین به گرایشات آزادیخواهانه و استقلال‌طلبانه ملت‌ها از یک مدل ثابت پیروی می‌کند و ارتباطی با کیفت دولت‌های مستقر ندارد.
نفوذ، کودتا، تحریم ‌اقتصادی، جنگ سخت و نرم، ابزار نظام سلطه برای سرکوب اراده‌ کشورهای مستقل است.
— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) August 19, 2023

The American CIA and the British MI6 worked toward empowering the monarchial rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1953 after Mossadegh rose to power in Iran.

By issuing a decree to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, in which Britain owned the majority shares, Mosaddegh emerged as a significant threat to British and US interests in West Asia.

The then Prime Minister was convicted of treason by a court martial following the August coup and was placed in solitary confinement for three years as he eventually died under house arrest in exile in 1967.

Former foreign secretary David Owen told The Guardian on Tuesday that the time has come for the UK to officially recognize its role in deposing the democratically elected Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953.

The US revealed information on its role in the toppling of Mossadegh when it released declassified documents 10 years ago that revealed the UK partook in the operation.

While the US was more concerned with fears that Mossadegh was a socialist, the UK was unsettled by the nationalization of the British oil company in Iran.

The joint US-UK operation was initially codenamed "Operation Boot" but was later renamed "Ajax."

David Owen, who was British foreign secretary from 1977 to 1979, told The Guardian: "There are good reasons for acknowledging the UK’s role with the US in 1953 in overthrowing democratic developments."

Shrouded with corruption, Shah's regime later fell apart in 1979, and the Iranian revolution brought about the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"I made it clear to the Shah that his form of rule had to make way for democratic reforms, but I wish I had known of his serious illness and could have pressed him much earlier in 1978 to stay in Switzerland for medical treatment and let a more democratic government emerge in Iran," he added.