Iran Press/ Iran News: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a message on X social media on the anniversary of the August 19 coup by the United States and Britain against the government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, said, "Revisiting the 1953 coup d'état shows that the old and new colonialism follows a fixed pattern while reacting to the aspirations of nations for freedom and independence and their reaction has nothing to do with the quality of the sitting governments."
In August 1953, the coup set off a series of events, including riots on the streets of the capital Tehran, leading to the overthrow and arrest of Mosaddegh, who was popular in Iran for nationalizing the country’s oil industry and taking it back from largely British control.
It also enabled the pro-Western monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's return from exile in Italy and consolidated his rule for the following 26 years until the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, led by Imam Khomeini.
Mosaddegh, convicted of treason by a court martial after the coup, served three years in solitary confinement and died under house arrest in exile in 1967.
The historic overthrow, though, is still given as a reason for the Iranians’ mistrust of Britain and the United States.
Experts say the coup aimed to ensure the Iranian monarchy would safeguard the West’s oil interests in the country.
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