Mein Diktator

August 21, 1953 — The Argus


The Mossadegh Project | January 14, 2017                     


This was the very first reaction to the 1953 coup in Iran by Melbourne, Australia newspaper The Argus. Their editorial condemning deposed Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh used terminology that conjured the image of Nazi German leader Adolph Hitler.

Australian media archive




End of a fuhrer

THE swift and violent overthrow of DR. MOSSADEQ, Premier and virtual dictator of Persia, has been a complete surprise to the world, and a pleasant surprise to the Western half of it.

But it would be unwise to assume that the overthrow of a little fuhrer means that Persia will return to the comity of nations and confirm the rights of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

We have reason to expect better treatment from the Shah than we received from the self-made man who achieved power by fishing in the troubled waters of East-West hostility.

But nationalist feeling in Persia has been aroused and we cannot expect it to simmer down because the army is loyal to its sovereign.

If he succeeds in retaining his power, the Shah will have to work within the limits imposed by a resurgent nationalism, and Britain would be foolish to strain the limits by insisting on the letter of an old agreement.

Fortunately British diplomacy is too wise and too experienced to fall into such an error. [Then why did they find themselves stuck with the Abadan crisis in the first place?]


Richard Stokes’ Second Thoughts on Iranian Oil (1951 Letter)
Richard Stokes' Letter to Clement Attlee, Aga Khan Concurs (1951)

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Related links:

Mossadeq | The South Coast Bulletin, November 18, 1953

Flash Point In Persia | The Argus (Melbourne), May 18, 1951

As I See It by Vee Cee (Iran Excerpts from Sunday Times column, 1951-1953)



MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”

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