Would You Trust the West?

In the early years of the 20^th century, the mega-rich Iranian oil industry was under the control of a British monopoly, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which was owned principally by the British government. Iranian oil powered the British economy and made possible the high standard of living Britons enjoyed from the 1920s through the 1940s. It also fueled the Royal Navy as it projected British power around the world. Most Iranians lived in unbelievable poverty.

 

In 1951, Iran's parliament chose as prime minister one of the most highly educated men in the country,  Mohammed Mossadegh, whose degree from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland made him the first Iranian ever to earn a doctorate in law from a European university. Mossadegh championed the nationalization of the oil industry. Even before taking office, he proposed a nationalization law that both houses of parliament passed unanimously. To no one's surprise, the British refused to accept it. They withdrew their oil technicians, blockaded the port from which oil was exported and asked the United Nations to order Iran to withdraw the plan. Mossadegh's popularity at home skyrocketed; he had flouted the authority of a great power and a great foreign interest.

 

In October he traveled to New York City to plead his case at the United Nations. It was the first time the leader of a poor country challenged a great power directly.

 

Mossadegh told the U. N. Security Council "(Iran's) standard of living is probably one of the lowest in the world. Out greatest national resource is oil. This should be the source of work and food for the population of Iran. Its exploitation should properly be our national industry, and the revenue from it should go to improve our conditions of life." Most American newspapers were unsympathetic to Mossadegh's plea on the ground that he was defying international law and threatening the flow of oil to the free world. The New York Times decried Iran as a "defiant scorner" of the United Nations and blamed "Iranian nationalism and Islamic fanaticism" for carrying the dispute "beyond the field of legality and common sense." Between 1951 and 1953 Persian nationalism became truly Iranian. Many Iranians hoped the United States would emerge as their friend and protector. Most Americans who had come to Iran during the first half of the 20^th century were teachers, nurses, and missionaries who had left highly positive impressions. That view changed in 1953 when the United States took a step that made it an object of deep resentment in Iran.

 

Failing to pressure Mossadegh to abandon his nationalism plan Winston Churchill ordered British agents to organize a coup and remove him from his office. Mossadegh closed the British embassy and expelled all British diplomats including the agents who were plotting his overthrow.  Churchill asked President Harry Truman to use the newly organized CIA to depose Mossadegh. Truman refused.

 

U. S. policy changed when in 1953 the British told Eisenhower  Mossadegh was leading Iran toward communism a distortion of the facts since Mossadegh despised Marxist ideas and Eisenhower sent the CIA into action.

 

Eisenhower made no attempt to find out who Mossadegh was or what motivated him, to talk to him or even to respond to letters he was sending to Washington.

 

The coup put an end to democratic rule in Iran. After Mossadegh was deposed, the CIA installed Mohamed Resa Shah. He ruled with increasing repression using his secret police, Savak, to torture his opposition.  He tolerated no political parties, student groups, labor unions nor civic organizations during his 25 years in power. The only place dissidents could find shelter was in mosques, giving the opposition movement a religious tinge that would later push Iran toward fundamentalist rule.

 

Imagine, the United States overthrew a legally elected government and replaced it with an oppressive dictatorship is there any wonder why Iranian leaders do not trust the West?

 

Regards,
John Jenkins

865-803-8179 cell

Gatlinburg, TN
Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com 

Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com 
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

Hyperbole is the Best Thing Ever.