Mossadegh's Problem in Iran | Brooklyn Eagle, Aug. 24, 1952

Reason To Bear
August 24, 1952 — The Brooklyn Eagle

The Mossadegh Project | September 19, 2015

An relatively mild editorial, by their standards, in The Brooklyn Eagle about the embattled Prime Minister of Iran.

Mossadegh’s Problem in Iran

It is possible that Premier Mossadegh, the instigator of the turmoil that has surged through Iran for months and brought the stricken land to the verge of anarchy, stands as the only effective safeguard against a coup by the Communist Tudeh party which will throw the nation into the waiting arms of Moscow.

Granted virtually unlimited power by the Iranian Parliament, Dr. Mossadegh has quickly employed his new authority to wipe out a long-existing economic evil—the impunity with which the Iranian wealthy class has escaped payment of just taxes.

The members of this class, like similar privileged people in Italy, Spain and other lands where human misery is widespread, consider themselves above the law.

Premier Mossadegh, facing a treasury depleted by his own wrecking of the oil industry, demands tax payments by the rich and establishes stern penalties for those who resist. This decision represents a major reform. His next responsibility, if he hopes to save his nation from revolution, is that of bringing reason to bear in his conflict with Britain over oil, which is the main hope of his country’s survival.

Related links:

Deal in Iran? | The Knickerbocker News, September 3, 1952

Harriman Mission Stirs Hope in Iran Oil Crisis | The Brooklyn Eagle, July 12, 1951

Iranian Situation Termed ‘Desperate’ | The Alsop Brothers, August 13, 1952

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