Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Biography

Prime Minister of Iran, 1951-1953

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh (1882-1967) was a lawyer, professor, author, Governor, Parliament member, Finance Minister, and democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran.



Mossadegh fought both internal corruption and foreign interference, enacted social reforms and nationalized the Iranian oil industry.



In 1953, he was overthrown by a British-American coup, arrested and tried as a traitor in military tribunal court. It was the CIAs first successful dismantling of a foreign government, and Iran has not known democracy since.



Mohammad Mossadegh was born June 16, 1882 in Tehran. His father, Mirza Hedayat Ashtiani, was Irans Minister of Finance, and his mother, Najm al-Saltaneh, was closely related to the ruling Qajar dynasty. At age 10 his father died of cholera, leaving him and his only sibling, a younger sister, to be raised by his mother.



He was about 12 when in recognition of his late fathers service to the crown, the monarch Nasir al-Din Shah gave him the title of "Mossadegh al-Saltaneh". Years later, when a national identity card system was introduced in Iran, he chose the surname of Mossadegh for himself, which means true and authentic.



Mossadeghs career began at the unusually young age of 15 when he was appointed, again in honor of his father, to Mostofi (Chief of Finance) of Khorasan Province. As a young man, in addition to pursuing his interest in modern sciences, he took part in various sports, and learned to play Tar, a traditional Persian string instrument.



At 19, he married Zia al-Saltaneh, a Qajar princess; whom he considered my most cherished person after my mother. The couple would have three daughters — Zia Ashraf, Mansoureh and Khadijeh; and two sons, Ahmad and Gholam-Hossein.



Mossadegh was only 21 years old when the people of Esfahan elected him to the Majles (Iranian Parliament) as their representative. However, because he did not meet the legal age requirement, he withdrew his name from consideration. During the constitutionalist movement of 1905-1911, Mossadegh actively participated in the events which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in place of arbitrary monarchial rule.



Mossadegh studied political science in Tehran and in 1909, continued his education in Paris. While in Paris he began to experience extreme weakness and fatigue and was forced to quit school and return to Iran. Throughout his life he was burdened by this persistent problem, better known today as chronic fatigue syndrome. Later, he returned to Europe and studied Law at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. In June 1914 he became the first Iranian to receive a Doctorate in Law, and returned to Iran only a day before the start of World War I.



Soon after his return to Iran, Mossadegh became the subject of a malicious accusation by a political rival. The unfounded accusation made him so upset that he became sick and developed a fever. His mother, who is best known for founding Najmieh charity hospital in Tehran, noticed how miserable he was and told him that she wished he had studied medicine rather than law. Anyone who studies law and enters politics should be ready to suffer all types of slander and insults, she told him, yet A persons worth in society is dependent on how much one endures for the sake of the people. In his memoirs, Mossadegh wrote that those words of wisdom prepared him for the life he chose and from then on the more hardship and insults he faced, the more prepared he became to serve the country.



In 1917, Mossadegh accepted a job in the government as Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Finance where he tried to combat corruption and even brought convictions to several individuals. In 1919 he chose self-exile in Switzerland in protest over an agreement between Iran and Britain that he found very disturbing. The main provision of this agreement was handing over to British advisers the supervision of Irans army and financial systems. Fearing the worst for Iran he feverishly campaigned against it in Europe and wrote to the League of Nations asking for help in this matter. Mossadegh returned to Iran after the agreement was rejected in the Majles.



Mossadeghs reputation as an honest, just and concerned politician preceded him upon his return to Iran. As he traveled throughout Fars province, he was greeted warmly by locals and received an offer to become their governor, which he accepted. After a few months, however, he resigned this post in protest of the 1921 British-inspired coup in Tehran that ultimately led to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.



After the Fars governorship, Mossadegh served as Finance Minister in Prime Minister Ghavams government and was later appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs during the premiership of his friend Moshir-al Dowleh. This was followed by a short term as Governor of Azerbaijan province. In 1923, Mossadegh was elected to the 5th Majles and began his historic opposition to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty by British supported Reza Khan, who was at that time the Prime Minister of Iran. He foresaw the return to dictatorship in Iran when ...one man is to be king, Prime Minister and magistrate!



As Mossadegh predicted, life under the tyrannical reign of Reza Shah was harsh and oppressive; in fact the political climate became so unbearable that he had good reason to fear for his life. In 1928, he voluntarily withdrew from social and political activism and retreated to his village of Ahmadabad located about 100 kilometers outside of Tehran. During this period, which lasted over a decade, he occupied his time reading and farming; conducting experiments to improve crop production and sharing the knowledge he acquired with other farmers in the village.



On July 26, 1940, Reza Shahs police squad unexpectedly arrived at Mossadeghs residence, searching and ransacking his house. Although no incriminating evidence against him was found, he was taken to the central prison in Tehran. Mossadegh was interrogated and, without being informed of any charges against him, transferred to a prison citadel in Birjand (a city in northeast Iran). Well aware of the fate of many others who dared to oppose Reza Shahs arbitrary rule, he expected to be killed.



The harshest blow to Mossadegh resulting from his imprisonment was the effect it had on his 13 year old daughter, Khadijeh, who had witnessed her fathers brutal arrest and forced transfer to Birjand prison. The highly sensitive Khadijeh was deeply traumatized and spent the rest of her life in psychiatric hospitals. Mossadegh later said that this tragedy was the cruelest punishment that could have ever been inflicted on him.



Reza Shah released Mossadegh from Birjand prison in November 1940, transferring him to Ahmadabad; to live there, until he dies. A year later his house arrest ended when the British forced the abdication of Reza Shah, and his 22 year-old son, Mohammad Reza, ascended to the throne.



Having returned to political activities, Mossadegh was elected with overwhelming support as Tehran representative to the 14th Majles in 1944. During his tenure in the Majles, Mossadegh passionately fought for Irans political and economic independence from foreigners, including addressing the highly unfair oil agreement with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a goal for which he received overwhelming popular support.



The contemporary history of Iran had been intertwined with oil, a highly sought after energy source by the West. It all began in 1901 when a 60 year exclusive rights were given to William Knox DArcy, a British subject, for oil exploration and exploitation in Irans southern provinces. In 1908, oil was struck and The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was established. Just before the start of World War I in 1914, the British government purchased 51% of the companys shares. The British thus created a beachhead and practically colonized the southern west corner of Iran, directly and indirectly interfering in the political affairs of the entire country. APOC even cheated on the meager 16% profit sharing payment to Iran and treated Iranian oil workers with contempt and racism in their own land. It all came to a head in July 1946 when about 6,000 Iranian oil workers went on a strike in the oil city of Aghajari. Their clash with government troops resulted in more than 200 dead or wounded workers.

 All Mossadegh quotes translated by Ebrahim Norouzi, MD. © The Mossadegh Project