Mosaddiq and the August 1953 Coup - Sixty Years After

THE ALLIANCE CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES

MIRIAM NISSIMOV

On August 19, 2013, Iran marked the 60th anniversary of the military coup and deposition of Mohammad Musaddiq, the Iranian prime minister who led the historic movement to nationalize the country's petroleum industry in the early 1950s. Over the years, the gripping political events that engulfed Iran in the early 1950s became the topic of dozens of books, biographies, and academic articles in and outside Iran. Even after 60 years, many questions concerning Musaddiq's leadership, his struggle to nationalize the oil industry, and the reasons for the US involvement in the efforts to topple him are still in dispute. The anniversary this summer triggered a new flurry of  debates in leading newspapers and in special supplements published by the Islamic Republic’s online news agencies. Also this summer, the US National Security Archives made available online 17 recently declassified documents that expose various aspects of the CIA’s involvement in the coup d'état against Musaddiq.

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