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Mohammad Mossadegh Biography
Mohammad
Mossadegh was born June
16, 1882 in Tehran. His father, Mirza Hedayat Ashtiani, was Iran's
Finance Minister, and his mother, Najm al-Saltaneh, was closely
related to the ruling Qajar dynasty. He lost his father at age 10 after
which the monarch Nasir al-Din Shah gave him the title "Mossadegh
al-Saltaneh". He was left to be raised by his mother, an uncommonly
socially conscious woman who once told him: "A person's
worth in society is dependent on how much one endures for the sake of
the people".
Mossadegh began on this path at the unusually young age of 14 as the appointed Mostofi (Chief of Finance) of Khorasan Province. At 19 he married princess Zia al-saltaneh; whom he later called "my most cherished person after my mother". The couple would have three daughters and two sons: Ahmad, Gholam-Hossein, Zia Ashraf, Mansoureh and Khadijeh.
By
age 21, Mossadegh was elected to the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) as a
representative of Isfahan but was not permitted to serve because of his
age. During the constitutional movement in Iran (1905-1911),
Mossadegh was a supporter of the constitutionalists and opposed despotic
monarchy rule of the Qajar dynasty.
As a young man Mossadegh studied political science in
Tehran and Paris. In June 1913, he became the first Iranian to receive a
Doctorate in Law after attending the University of Lausanne in
Switzerland. He returned to Tehran at the start of World War I and
taught as a professor, writing articles, co-publishing Majaleh-e-Elmi
(Scientific) magazine and authoring several books including a
textbook for the "School of Law and Political Science". To
educate the populace and establish the groundwork for abolishing
"capitulation" (entitling foreign residents or
travellers special privileges and legal exemptions, which Iran had
previously conceded to Russia and Britain), he wrote and published the manual
"Capitulation" and distributed it free of charge.
Mossadegh served his country as ministers of Finance,
Justice, Foreign Affairs and Defense. He was appointed governor of
Azerbaijan province, and later at the request of the people, became
governor of Fars province. Mossadegh passionately supported political
and economic independence from foreign interference for Iran. As a
fervent advocate of a civil society, Mossadegh's opposition to inept and
harmful government policies caused him to be repeatedly jailed, exiled
and kept under house arrest. Mossadegh spent about 25 years - roughly
half of his political life - either in prison or exile. The longest
internal exile was from 1928 to 1941 during the reign of Reza Shah when
he primarily farmed in Ahmad Abad.
Despite persecution by the
monarchy, Mossadegh enjoyed overwhelming popular support with Iranians,
and was voted by a wide margin to represent Tehran in the Parliament. In
May 1951, he was elected Prime Minister of Iran but resigned the
following year when the young Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) refused to
grant him control of the army. What ensued was the largest street
demonstration in support of Mossadegh on July 20, 1952, (known as 30th
of Tir) during which many people were killed. The Shah finally gave in
and handed over the military to Mossadegh. In August 1952, Mossadegh was
re-appointed for a second term.
As leader of Iran, Mossadegh sponsored laws for 'clean
government' and independent court systems, defended freedom of religion,
political affiliations, and promoted free elections. He implemented many
social reforms and fought for the rights of women, workers, and
peasants. A fund to pay for rural development projects was created to
benefit Iranian farmers. Most importantly, Mossadegh helped to foster a
national self-sufficiency that remains unduplicated in Iran since his
tenure: balancing the budget, increasing non-oil productions and
creating a balance of trade. His policies were frequently opposed
by The Shah, army generals, leading clerics, land owners, the Tudeh
(Communist) party, and the governments of Britain and America. Nevertheless,
Mossadegh could always rely upon the support of the people.
The contemporary history
of Iran had been intertwined with oil, a highly sought after energy
source by the west, since 1901 when a 60 year exclusive rights were
given to William Knox D'Arcy, a British subject, for oil exploration and
exploitation in Iran's southern provinces. In 1908 oil was struck and
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was established. Just before the start of
World War I in 1914, the British government purchased 51% of the
company's shares. The British thus created a beachhead and practically
colonized the southern west corner of Iran, directly and indirectly
interfering in the political affairs of the entire country. The company
was not even honoring the utterly unfair 1933 revised concession. APOC
cheated on the meager 16% payment to Iran and treated Iranian oil
workers with contempt and racism in their own land. It all came to a
head in July 1946 when about 6,000 Iranian oil workers went on a strike
in Agajari. Their clash with the government troops resulted in more that
200 dead and wounded workers.
Mossadegh realized that there would not be political
independence unless the meddling hand of Britain is removed, stating "The
moral aspect of oil nationalization is more important than its economic
aspect." He sought to
renegotiate and reach an equitable and fair restitution of rights of
Iran but was faced with intransigence by the company.
To put an end to 150 years of British political
interference, economic exploitation and plundering of Iran's national
resources, Mossadegh engineered the nationalization of the oil industry.
Based on the application of his policy 'Negative Equilibrium' in
foreign affairs, he refused oil concessions to the Soviet Union. He
prioritized political over economic independence, realizing there
is no economic freedom without it. In 1950, he defended his actions at
the United Nations and the International Court of Justice; reminding the
international community that Britain's oil profits in 1950 alone were
more than what it paid to Iran during the previous half century.
In both cases, Mossadegh's persuasive arguments ended in Iran's favor.
In December 1951, he nationalized the Iranian oil industry and later
ousted Anglo-Iranian Oil from the country completely.
Threatened by these rational new policies, Britain
attempted to undermine Mossadegh's authority by inciting division in the
country; imposing a worldwide embargo on the purchase of Iranian oil,
freezing Iranian assets and threatening Iran with invasion by amassing a
Naval force in the Persian Gulf. After all attempts failed, Britain
concluded that "Mossadegh must go" by any means necessary.
Working jointly with the American CIA, they plotted a coup to overthrow
his democratically elected government. With the help of their Iranian
agents a CIA drafted plan went into action. After a failed attempt,
they succeeded in a violent overthrow on August 19,
1953. Mossadegh
escaped capture and his home was invaded, looted and ransacked. A couple
of days later he surrendered to authorities and was arrested. During
this bloody episode hundreds were killed and many others wounded.
Followers of Mossadegh were arrested, imprisoned, tortured or even
murdered. Mossadegh's Foreign Minister Hossein Fatemi was captured,
beaten, stabbed, shot and finally executed by a firing squad. A
reign of terror had begun.
Tried as a traitor in a military court, on December 19,
1953, Mossadegh pronounced:
...I am well aware that my fate must serve as an example in the future throughout the Middle East in breaking the chains of slavery and servitude to colonial interests."
Mossadegh was convicted of treason. He was placed in solitary confinement for three years followed by house arrest for the remainder of his life in his ancestral village of Ahmad Abad. On March 5th, 1967, Mohammad Mossadegh died at age 85, one year after the passing of his beloved wife of 64 years.
Mossadegh lived with the motto: "If I sit silently, I have sinned." - a timeless call to action to all who seek peace and justice in the world, at any place, any time.
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