“There is no better way to govern Iran than democracy and social justice!”
Mohammad Mossadegh
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was born on May 19, 1882. His father, Hedayat Ashtiani, was the Finance Minister under Naser-oddin Shah Qajar, and his mother was a granddaughter of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza Qajar. After the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, Mohammad Mossadegh was elected from Isfahan to the First Parliament, but since he was under the age of 30, he refused his position as a parliament member and moved to France to continue his education.
Dr. Mossadegh was educated at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris and at the law school of Neuchatel University in Switzerland. He held various government positions from an early age; The Governor General of the Fars province 1915-1920; The Minister of Finance 1921; The Minister of Foreign Affairs 1922; The member of parliament 1924-1927. He was forced to early retirement from political life by Reza Shah Pahlavi, under the British guidance, from 1928 to 1941.
While Dr. Mossadegh was out of political atmosphere, the British could lobby the passage of the 1933 oil agreement signed by Reza Shah, to plunder the Iranian oil for another 60 years. After Reza Shah left Iran for exile, in 1941, Dr. Mossadegh returned to political life. Despite all the interference and frauds by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, (under the British influence) during the parliament elections in 1943, Dr. Mossadegh and a group of nationalists were elected for the 16th Parliament, 1943-1947. A while later, the parliament elected Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh as the Prime Minister of Iran, in 1951.
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh and his cabinet, the Nationalist Government (April 1953) Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh and his cabinet, the Nationalist Government
(April 1953)
When he became the Prime Minister in 1951; The first thing he accomplished after introducing his nationalist cabinet, was the enforcement of the Oil Nationalization Bill to terminate the British ownership and influence on the Iran’s oil industry. The British immediate reaction was a lawsuit against Iran in the United Nations Security Council and Hague International Court. Dr. Mossadegh traveled to New York then to Netherlands (Holland) to defend Iran’s rights. The battle between Dr. Mossadegh and the British government in the Hague International Court concluded with a big historical victory for the Iranian people. The Hague Court voted in favor of Iran in spite of huge international legal encounter with England. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was dissolved and the 1933 oil agreement between the Government of Iran (Reza Shah) and the British was cancelled. The British ownership and influence on the Iran’s oil industry was terminated and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the first national oil company in the Middle East, was established on March 19th, 1951 (29th day of Esfand 1329, Persian calendar).
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, the myth, the legend, the Iranian national hero; Birth: May 19, 1882 in Tehran; Death: March 4, 1967 in Ahmad-Abad, Iran (under house arrest since 1953 by the Shah).