Mohammad Mosaddeq (Mossadeq (help·info)) (Persian: محمد مصدق Moḥammad Moṣaddeq, also Mosaddegh or Mossadegh) (19 May 1882 5 March 1967) served as the Prime minister of Iran[1][2] from 1951 to 1953. He was democratically elected to the parliament, and as leader of the nationalists was twice appointed as prime minister by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, after a positive vote of inclination by the parliament.[3] Mossadegh was a nationalist and passionately opposed foreign intervention in Iran. He was also the architect of the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, today known as British Petroleum (BP).
Due to a multitude of disagreements with his former allies, especially the communists and Islamists, and disagreements with the Shah and with the parliament over his handling of the talks regarding compensation of the British side, he dissolved the parliament using a referendum to avoid impeachment. This act was characterized as unconstitutional by some of his closest allies as well as opponents, and led to the Shah's dismissing him from office on August 16, 1953 [4][5][6][7][8]. Mossadegh later insisted that the text of the constitution was subject to interpretation, and that his actions had been in accordance with its spirit rather than its text [9]. He eventually was removed from power on August 19, 1953, by military intervention. The coup d'état was supported and funded by the British and U.S. governments and led by General Fazlollah Zahedi [10]. The American operation to encourage it was run by CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, Jr.,[11][12] the grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and came to be known as Operation Ajax,[11] after its CIA cryptonym, and as the "28 Mordad 1332" coup, after its date on the Iranian calendar.[13] Dr. Mosaddeq was imprisoned for three years and subsequently put under house arrest until his death. He is, in many countries, considered a symbol of anti-imperialism.
