The book All the Shah’s Men, by Stephen Kinzer, is an account of the coup that happened in 1953, which was organized and done by American and British intelligence. The result of the coup was to instill the Shah of Iran for 25 years up until 1979 when there was a revolution. The influence of foreign involvement in Iran is a point of contention marked by turmoil and conflict. In the 1950s Iran was attempting to rule itself with Mosadegh as the prime minister. This is after a history of oppressive leaders which the Iranians were unhappy about. Britain was unhappy about the looming nationalization of Iranian oil and the Americans were nervous of the Communist influence. Under these two excuses the countries banned together to overthrow Mosadegh. The interference of the British and American government in Iran should never have happened. It seems that this whole battle against Mossadegh was more than just against this one man. It was against an entire country that after years of oppression and terrible rulers finally had voted democratically on who the best man was. Mossadegh was a fair man; he worked hard against the years of incompetent and corrupt government. He wanted to restore Iran to what it once was, a peaceful and advanced nation. After finally removing Mossadegh, and the first democratically elected government Iran was ruled for the next twenty-five years under the dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was only able to rule by force and relied heavily on his Secret Service to keep him in power. Finally in 1979 he was overthrown. What I find poignant about this book is the idea of American involvement in Iran. Even after reading this book I am still not completely sure as to why they were involved. What exactly did it prove or solve?
I attached this video of Mosadegh's home which is interesting to watch after reading the book. (Even if I can't understand what they say!)
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