November 14, 1952 — Port Huron Times Herald
| The Mossadegh Project | November 16, 2025 |
Editorial in The Port Huron Times Herald newspaper (Port Huron, Michigan).
Mossadegh Folly
In breaking off diplomatic relations with Great Britain, Mohammed Mossadegh, the weeping, swooning Premier of Iran, has done something which will help nobody—except the Russians.
His seizure of the British oil properties in Iran did not help anybody, either—except the Russians.
In an attempt to get the goose that laid the golden eggs—which made the Iran government prosperous—to lay more golden eggs, the weeping Premier killed the goose.
Without the revenue from the British oil business, Iran is bankrupt.
From the moment the oil crisis in Iran developed, Mossadegh has refused to deal with the British except on his own terms.
He has gambled from the start that the West would not permit Iran to suffer too much on account of his foolishness for fear Iran might fall prey to Russian Communism.
His severance of ties with
Great Britain indicates that he has learned that he cannot bluff Great Britain into a deal in which he dictates the terms.
We suspect that Mossadegh now considers that the United States will become the prop of his country—with the idea that we will be compelled by the exigencies of the world struggle for power to rescue his government, which he has
practically wrecked.
That puts the United States in a dilemma—we cannot afford to watch Iran crumble and let Russia pick up the pieces.
But we cannot move immediately to the aid of Mossadegh
because that would be pulling the rug out from under Great Britain.
Our idea is that we should let Mossadegh stew in his own juice until adverse circumstances he has created bring him to a more reasonable frame of mind—if doing that will not give Russia an opportunity for which it obviously has been
waiting a long time.
Related links:
Joint Statement: Britain and Iran Resume Diplomatic Relations (Dec. 5, 1953)
Americans Unpopular in Iran | Independent Record, Aug. 11, 1952
British Socialist Takes Iran’s Side | R. H. Shackford (Sept. 1952)
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
