Iran / Persia: Mohammad Mosaddegh or Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran from 1951-1953, kisses Queen Soraya of Iran's hand in greeting, c. 1952

The Mossadeq administration introduced a wide range of social reforms but was most notable for its nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

Mosaddegh was removed from power in a coup on 19 August 1953, organised and carried out by the United States CIA at the request of British MI6 which chose Iranian General Fazlollah Zahedi to succeed Mosaddegh.

While the coup is commonly referred to as Operation Ajax after its CIA cryptonym, in Iran it is referred to as the 28 Mordad 1332 coup, after its date on the Iranian calendar. Mosaddegh was imprisoned for three years, then put under house arrest until his death at Ahmadabad, India, in 1967.

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