The Biography of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh
- Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was born on May 19, 1882. His father "Hedayat Ashtiani" was the Finance Minister of King Naser al-Din Qajar, and his mother was a granddaughter of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza.
- During his childhood, Mossadegh lost his father (1892), and it was at that time that he became the government's tax collecting representative in the province of Khorasan, by the King's decree.
- After the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, Mossadegh was elected from Isfehan to the first Parliament, but since he was under the age of 30, he refused his position as a Parliament member.
- When Mohammad Ali Shah bombarded the first Parliament, and liberals were either executed or imprisoned, Mossadegh spent a while in concealment, and in 1909 he started his trip to France through Russia, and he studied at the Political Science Institute of Paris for two years. Because of his illness, Mossadegh was forced to return to Iran, but after 5 months he traveled to Switzerland where he continued his education at the law school of Neuchatel.
- Mossadegh obtained his law doctorate and his attornyship permit in 1913.
- In 1914 he returned to Iran and began his career at the Political Science Institute of Tehran, as a professor. During this time Mossadegh compiled two books, the "Civil Legal Procedure," and the "Capitulation."
- In 1917, Mossadegh became the deputy Finance minister and took many steps against corruption inside the ministry.
Young Mossadegh
- When the cabinet of Vosough al-Doleh signed the treacherous agreement of 1919 with the British government, Mossadegh strongly criticized the agreement and left the country for Europe. There he informed the western societies about this agreement which would have made Iran a British colony. By signing the agreement, Vosugh received 131,000 British Pounds to divide among himself and his Foreign and Finance ministers.
- A few months later, Vosough's cabinet collapsed because of the public pressure, and Moshir al-Doleh became Prime Minister. The new Premier invited Dr. Mossadegh to join him as his minister of Justice.
- In his return to Iran from the Persian Gulf, due to the request of the people of Shiraz, he accepted the governor ship of the Fars province, until the British backed coup d'etat of 1921, and took effective steps towards the security of the people.
- When the British backed coup of Seyed Zia and Reza Khan took place in 1921, Mossadegh was one of the few Iranian politicians who asked the legitimacy of the coup government, and resigned his post as the governor of Fars. After his abdication, in his way to Tehran, the Bakhtiari tribe invited Mossadegh to be their guest, and he lived there until the Zia government collapsed after 100 days.
- After Zia government's fall, Ghavam al-Saltaneh became the new Premier and Dr. Mossadegh was selected as the Finance minister with full authority.
- With the fall of Ghavam's government, and when Moshir became the premier once again, Mossadegh was asked to become the governor of the Azerbaijan province, and accepted the post from 1921 to 1922, upon the condition of having authority over the province's armed forces. But at the end because of the provincial army commander's disobedience, who got his orders from Reza Khan (the War Minister), Mossadegh resigned and returned to Tehran.
- In May 1923, Mossadegh became the Foreign Minister of Moshir's cabinet, and strongly opposed the British government's claim, which requested 2 million Pounds from Iran, for the creation of the Iranian southern police (which protected Britain's interests).
- After Moshir's abdication, Reza Khan (Commander of the Armed Forces), reached the post of Premiership.
- Dr. Mossadegh was elected to the Parliament from Tehran, and it was during this period that the Qajar dynasty was overthrown and Reza khan declared himself the King of Iran. Mossadegh strongly criticized the Kingship of Reza khan, and when the sixth Majlis ended, and Reza Khan became the absolute dictator of Iran, Mossadegh was forced to stay at home for many years. During the last years of Reza Shah's reign, when most of the political figures were either deceased or had surrendered to the Pahlavi regime, Mossadegh was arrested and exiled for several months, but finally he was sent back to his Ahmad Abad country estate under house arrest. After the occupation of Iran by the British and Russian armies in 1941, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate and exiled to South Africa until his death, and Mossadegh returned to Tehran.
- In the elections of the 14th Majlis (Parliament), Dr. Mossadegh was elected as the first representative from the Capital, and was surprisingly honored by the nation.
- During the 15th Majlis elections, because of the interference of Mohammad Reza Shah, and Premier Ghavam, Mossadegh didn't get the chance to enter the Parliament, so the British could confirm the 1933 oil agreement that was signed by the ex-Shah, with the new cabinet, and plunder the Iranian oil for another 60 years. Fortunately because of the public pressure, the wish of the British government didn't come true, and the life of the 15th Majlis ended. But the Shah, by the request of the British, formed a Constituent Assembly, and extended his powers as a constitutional monarch. It was also during this period that Dr. Mossadegh and his companions formed the Jebhe Melli (National Front) of Iran, which played a great role in nationalizing the Iranian oil industry.
- Despite all the interference and frauds of the Shah and the Royal Court during the 16th Majlis elections, the fake ballot boxes were announced expired, and the Royal Court minister was assassinated. In the second round of the elections, Mossadegh and a group of his companions were elected, and it was this Parliament that approved the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, by the leadership of Dr. Mossadegh. A while later the Majlis elected Mossadegh as the new Prime Minister.
- When Mossadegh became Premier in 1951, the first thing he did after introducing his cabinet, was the enforcement of the Oil Nationalization Bill.
- Following the British law suit against Iran and propounding it at the United Nations Security Council, Dr. Mossadegh made a trip to New York in order to defend the rights of Iran. Then he made a trip to the Netherlands and defended Iran at the Hague Court, and Iran was voted not guilty for nationalizing its oil. In his return to Iran, Mossadegh also visited Egypt and was magnificently welcomed by its people.
Dr. Mossadegh and President Truman in Washington D.C.
- The 17th Majlis elections ended in violence because of the army and Royal Courts interference, and after 80 deputies were elected, Mossadegh had to announce the conclusion of the elections.
- In order to avoid the army's interference, Mossadegh asked the Shah to convey the War Ministry to his cabinet, but the Shah refused and Mossadegh resigned in 1952.
- The next day, Majlis elected Ghavam as the new premier and he announced his Premiership by a harsh statement.
- The people of Iran who were angered by Mossadegh's dismissal, revolted in favor of him and Ayatollah Kashani (who was a close ally of Mossadegh at that time), and against the new government and the Shah. After 4 days of bloody revolt, the people defeated the Ghavam's government and the shah's army, and once again Mossadegh became Prime Minister.
Dr. Mossadegh and His Supporters in Front of the Majlis
- By controlling the Defense Ministry (previous War Ministry), Mossadegh succeeded in cleaning the army from corrupted officers, and this act angered the Royal Court.
- In March of 1953, the Royal Court with the help of a group of clergies, expelled army officers, and ruffians, decided to perform a conspiracy plan against Dr. Mossadegh. The plan was that on the first day of March, the Shah would leave the capital for Europe and pretend that Mossadegh had forced him to leave the country. On the other hand the ruffians and expelled army officers would gather in front of the Royal Palace to avoid the Shah's departure. At the same time when Mossadegh comes out of the Royal Palace, they would attack and murder him.
But since Mossadegh suspected the conspiracy at the last moment, he escaped the scene.
- General Afshar-Toos, the loyal police chief of Mossadegh's government, was brutally murdered by the Royal Court's agents and the expelled officers.
- Because of the continues disputes between the Parliament and the cabinet, and following the Majlis member's abdications, Mossadegh declared a national referendum to let the people choose between dissolvement of the Parliament, or cabinet's abdication. In this referendum (which was criticized by many figures, because of the separation of the Yes and No ballot boxes, and not being held at a same time in Tehran and other cities), the majority of the votes were for dissolvement of the Majlis, and it was dissolved in August of 1953.
- On August 16, 1953, with accordance to an American-British designed plan, the Shah issued Dr. Mossadegh's dismissal, and the chief of the Royal Guards carried the formal notice to Mossadegh's house (which was also his Prime Ministry office) and was ordered to occupy the house by the Royal troops. But when the troops reached the Mossadegh's house, Mossadegh's guards immediately arrested the Royal Guard's chief and his troops. The coup was publicized and the Shah escaped the country for Italy.
- On 17th and 18th of August 1953, people poured to the streets in support of Mossadegh and the status of Mohammad Reza and Reza Shah were pulled down all over the country.
- On August 19, 1953, the intelligence services of U.S.A. and Britain (CIA - MI6), enforced a more precise and expensive coup d'etat plan, and this time succeeded in overthrowing Mossadegh's government. On this day, after bribing some of the grand Ayatollahs, army officers, ruffians, and the prostitutes, the coup makers pulled large mobs into the streets to demonstrate against the national government of Dr. Mossadegh. Because of the police chief treachery, the coup makers reached the house of the Prime Minister and after several hours of bombarding the house and bloody battle with the small group of Mossadegh's loyal guards, they entered the house and after plundering it, they burned the house. Mossadegh and his companions used a ladder and took refugee inside the neighbor's house. Some of Mossadegh's previous companions were among the coup makers.
The Coup Makers Carrying the Portrait of the Shah on August 19, 1953 (Photo by: Farhad Diba)
- On the next day, Dr. Mossadegh and his loyal companions surrendered themselves to the coup Prime Minister, General Zahedi. A few days latter, the Shah returned to Iran from Italy, and began his 25 years of despotic reign.
- During the military trial of Dr. Mossadegh, he publicized the secrets of the two coups against his government. In conclusion Mossadegh was given three years of prison, and after being imprisoned for 3 years, Mossadegh, now 74, was moved to his country house in Ahmad Abad, and lived there under house arrest until he died.
Dr. Mossadegh During His Trial
- Mossadegh's wife passed away in 1964, at the age of 84, and left Dr. Mossadegh and their 2 sons and 3 daughters in grief.
- On March 4, 1967, Dr. Mossadegh died of cancer at the age of 84. His body was buried in one of the rooms of his Ahmad Abad residence.
- On the first anniversary of Mossadegh's pass away after the 1979 Revolution, about one million Iranians honored their national hero by gathering in Ahmad Abad.
Dr. Mossadegh's Tomb in Ahmad Abad
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