tons of oil in 1950, making it one of the leading oil-producing
countries in the world. While the middle and upper classes of
Iranians benefited from this oil boom, thousands of poor citizens
still languished in poverty.
By this time, the United States also had taken an interest in
Iranian oil reserves. The Cold War had gripped the globe, with
the United States and the Soviet Union vying for influence in
diverse regions. Fearing the Soviets would win control of Iran
and its oil, the U.S. government quietly became involved in
Iranian politics and military affairs. It supported Muslim groups
that disliked the Soviets, sent advisors to help Pahlavi’s armed
forces, and sold him weapons.
Neither Pahlavi nor the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, was
happy watching most of the country’s oil profits being siphoned
off by foreign interests. There seemed little they could do to
change the situation, though. Not so resigned were an aging
nationalist activist named Muhammad Mosaddiq and an
Islamic leader named Ayatollah Seyed Abol Qassem Kashani.
They marshaled opposition to the AIOC, demanding that the
country’s oil industry be taken away from foreign interests, or
nationalized. To them and thousands of their followers, the
foreigner entrepreneurs were causing two major problems for
Iran: They were hampering the country’s economy and they
were undermining Islamic traditions. Ruhollah Khomeini, at the
time a teacher at Qom, was among those who held this view.
The public demand for oil nationalization turned violent.
Terrorists assassinated Prime Minister Ali Razmara and other
government officials. Alarmed, the Majlis moved to grant their
demand, passing a nationalization law. Great Britain tried
unsuccessfully to block the action through international legal
channels. The AIOC was forced to shut down its operations.
Mosaddiq became prime minister of Iran in May 1951. Both
inside and outside Iran, he was perceived as a contender for
Pahlavi’s authority. If successful, he gradually could assume the
government’s policy-making role, leaving Pahlavi as nothing
more than a royal figurehead. Mosaddiq made dramatic progress28 AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI
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