toward that end. For example, he managed to bring the country’s
military under the control of the Majlis; previously, it had been
under Pahlavi’s direct command. Mosaddiq also began work on
land reforms that would redistribute wealth among the classes.
In response to Iran’s nationalization of oil, the AIOC led
an international boycott of Iranian oil purchases. This badly
damaged Iran’s economy. The situation was made worse by the
fact that Iranians were not well trained to operate their own oil
industry. For years, refinery technology and management had
been performed by foreign petroleum professionals.
Among Iranians, anti-American sentiment now was on the
rise, along with anti-Pahlavi sentiment. Demonstrations were
staged in 1953, and the army had to be sent in to quell the
unrest. At the same time, opposition was being organized
against the prime minister. A group of army officers, unhappy
with Mosaddiq’s military changes, began to plot his overthrow.
The United States, fearing the rise of Iran’s Communist party,
Tudeh, lent the conspirators the support of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency (CIA). Pahlavi endorsed the plot. The first coup
attempt in August 1953 failed, prompting Pahlavi to flee briefly
to Italy. Within days, though, Mosaddiq was toppled, and
Pahlavi recovered his authority.
In the aftermath of this turmoil, the United States established a
key partnership role with Iran. It acquired more than 40 percent
of the control of the old Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Along
with Israel, it helped Pahlavi organize a strong security force,
SAVAK, to tighten his control.
Possibly more than anything else, this sequence of events in
the early 1950s set the stage for the coming revolution. Certainly,
it defined the United States as “the enemy” in the minds of
Muslim fundamentalists in Iran. Wrote Middle East commen-
tator Lawrence Ziring: “What had begun as a commercial affair
involving a foreign-owned oil company quickly escalated into a
political and ideological confrontation of enormous complexity,
with great consequences for Iran, the Middle East, and the rest
of the world.”^12
Shah Pahlavi’s Quest for Glory 29