OIL CRISIS IN IRAN : from nationalism to coup d 'etat

Focusing on the turbulent twenty-eight months between April 1951 and August 1953, this book, based on recently declassified CIA and US State Department documents from the Mossadeq administration tell the story of the Iranian oil crisis, which would culminate in the coup of August 1953. Throwing fresh light on US involvement in Iran, Ervand Abrahamian reveals exactly how immersed the US was in internal Iranian politics long before the 1953 coup, in parliamentary politics and even in saving the monarchy in 1952. By weighing rival explanations for the coup, from internal discontent, a fear of communism and oil nationalization, Abrahamian shows how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations did not differ significantly in their policies towards Mossadeq, and how the surprising main obstacle to an earlier coup was the shah himself. In tracing the key involvement of the US and CIA in Iran, this study shows how the 1953 coup would eventually pave the way to the 1979 Iranian revolution, two of the most significant and widely studied episodes of modern Iranian history. "Introduction "History is about arguments."-Christopher Hill The new edition of the declassified documents throws invaluable light on how deeply the US was involved in the internal politics of Iran from the very beginning of the oil crisis-an involvement previously overlooked by both historians and informed observers. A cursory comparison between the 2017 version of Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-54, Vol. X, Iran, 1951-54 with the 1989 version with the same title indicates that these documents were withheld so long precisely because the State Department was reluctance to admit to such deep involvement. The 2017 version reveals that the 1989 version had "redacted"-euphemism for deleted and censored-the following two short, but significant, phrases from a long 1951 National Security Council document: US "conduct special political operations" in Iran; and US "coordinated US-UK support for pro-Western Iranian elements"-- Provided by publisher Based on recently declassified CIA and US State Department documents from the Mossadeq administration, this study throws fresh light on the Iranian oil crisis which would culminate in the coup of August 1953, one of the most significant and widely studied episodes of modern Iranian history. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Preface Chronology List of Notable Persons Introduction 1 US Involvement 2 US Concerns: Oil or Communism? 3 Parliamentary Politics 4 The Road to the Coup 5 Memory Revised Selected Bibliography Index Illuminates The Influence Of The Us In Internal Iranian Politics Long Before The 1953 Coup By Examining Recently Declassified Cia And Us State Department Documents.