Iran
Part 2
At end of part one, we left the British
Labour party struggling with the dilemma caused by the nationalisation of the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company at the hands of Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadeq. Celebrations
in Iran were short-lived, however, as it soon became evident that the
response of the Oil Company was to go on strike. Most non Iranian staff left,
the rest were fired. When the British refused to allow their tanker drivers to
sign a document recognising that they were transporting Iranian oil, the oil
business came to a grinding halt.
Meanwhile, the hawks in London were
advocating a military response to retrieve such a valuable British asset. They
predicted copycat losses occurring all over the globe if Britain
failed to react. To placate these voices and buy themselves some time, the
British Government sent the HMS Mauritius to evacuate all British citizens from
the area. They also sent reinforcements to Iraq and Cyprus to
create unease in the country.
The US was
called in to support the UK but,
in fact they had little sympathy with the British demands. On a visit to America, Mussadeq
completely won over the Americans. While the Brits saw him as a funny little
man in pyjamas, the Americans saw a charismatic believer in democracy who did
not encourage the communists and was seeking freedom from the imperialistic
British just as the Americans had done themselves. The fact that there was 50%
of the World’s production of oil available to Iran’s
supporters probably did no harm to his case at all.
To avoid what they saw as a disastrous
military involvement in Iran, America sent its great negotiator of the day, Averell Harriman, to try to
end the impasse. In fact Harriman and, Richard Stokes, the negotiator sent in
by the Brits, both believed that the
Iranians were justified in their cause. Back in London, however, a
jingoistic press accompanied by the dominance of the Anglo Iranian Oil’s voice among
the political elite, meant that no compromise was likely to be reached.
Up to this point, it was widely thought
that Mussadeq was the only politician that could hold back the Communists in Iran. The
new Conservative Government returning to power in 1951 had no such fears. Churchill,
by this time, was a Prime Minister in name only and Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary
and Deputy PM, was very much in control of our foreign policy. Eden knew of the successful machinations going on behind the scenes in Iran. British intelligence had been under instructions from the Labour
Government to organize the fall of Mussadeq and a coup was shaping up nicely. It also seemed likely that the Communists could
easily be set up to take the blame. For the moment it was best if the British
played along with American negotiators to buy a little more time.
Mussadeq did himself no favours when he
failed to accept an interim agreement set up by the US. This
would have allowed oil to flow while keeping the money for overseas sales in
the hands of trustees. His short sightedness led to the US losing
patience with him and as a result he failed to secure the loan the country
needed to sustain it until its oil revenue returned.
In the resulting outcry against Mussadeq in
the Majlis, old political hand, Quavam Saltanah, was quick to see a window of opportunity.
He had approached Julian Amery, a Tory with very high Government connections to
show his willingness to support British interests in Iran. As
a result, in July 1952, he momentarily found himself appointed to the position of
Prime Minister, by the Shah. Mussadeq had resigned over his claim to the right to
appoint War Minister. Knowing that he could rely on his ability to move the
masses, Mussadeq once again addressed his people and they turned out in their
masses to call for his return to power. When the army refused to fire on demonstrators,
Saltanah had to be removed.
“The popular reaction to the resignation of
Mussadeq in Tehran was such that Quavam could not continue. This was a real setback. I
think at the same time the military takeover in Egypt was
taking place. It was a bad week.” Reported Sir Donald Logan, assistant to
Anthony Eden at the Foreign Office.
Mussadeq
came back with a vengeance that frightened his opponents. He forced the Shah’s
sister to leave the country; cut the royal budget; named himself War Minister;
and took over some of the power from the Majlis.
The time had come for British intelligence
to oust Mussadeq, once and for all. Thanks to the pro-English Rashidian
brothers, Seyfollah, Qodratollah and Assadollah, their plans were well
underway.
The Rashidian family were very wealthy. They
kept a family suite in the Grosvenor House Hotel in London and sent
their children to be educated in England. They already had in place, arrangements to bribe the Majlis; pay mob leaders to
counter the spontaneous demonstrations of support enjoyed by Mussadeq;
They had helped Woodhouse of MI6 before and
they were given £1.5 million pounds to use for bribery in the country now. A
cache of arms had been previously buried somewhere in Iran and
was now made available to the rabble rousers ready for the trouble to start.
Mussadeq knew the Rashidians were British
agents but his faith in democracy meant allowing them to continue their
plotting against him in freedom. When he discovered that something serious was really
going on, he forced out their financers but the damage was already done. The
British Voluntary Council, long a cover for intelligence operatives in Iran, were
also removed from the country too late.
President Dwight D Eisenhower came to
office in November 1952 changing the American attitude towards the Iranian Prime
Minister. He sympathised instead with the British desire to oust Mussadeq and
take back control of the Iranian oil supplies.
Of course it is always necessary in a coup
situation that the victim plays his part correctly and Mussadeq obliged. He
awarded himself emergency powers to pass laws by decree and then set about
reforming the country’s land laws and redistributing the oil wealth.
At the same time, Mussadeq dismissed many
Civil Servants and army leaders. When the senate objected, he ordered the
Majlis to close it down. When opposition found the courage to resist, Mussadeq
held a referendum and won by an overwhelming majority.
He antagonised the Islamist leaders with his modernization programme and his determination to enfranchise women. In his recent actions, he had departed from those who upheld constitutional values and, in his opposition to the colonialist agenda; he had upset those who became powerful and rich under their hand.
He antagonised the Islamist leaders with his modernization programme and his determination to enfranchise women. In his recent actions, he had departed from those who upheld constitutional values and, in his opposition to the colonialist agenda; he had upset those who became powerful and rich under their hand.
With the loss of his traditional
supporters, Mussadeq found himself more aligned to the Communist Tudeh, the
terrain of intelligent, forward thinking young Iranians, keen to be free from
the shackles of imperial domination and the corruption of the Majlis. By
failing to keep on side those who valued an easy life, he left himself
vulnerable to his enemies.
In part 3 the story of the coup bears an uncanny resemblence to events right now in Syria.
