The coup d'état that our people will never forget
An event – the event of the 28th of Mordad – occurred in our country in the year 1332 [19 August 1953] that is one of the events that connect the people of Iran with experiences and that prevents them from making mistakes and having poor insight. During this event, the people of Iran gained a great experience which should never be forgotten. Sixty years have passed from the year 1953 until today. First, such events have been repeated during these 60 years. Second, when a historical event carries a lesson with it, then the passage of time does not change things and we should learn that lesson.
When a historical event carries a lesson with it, then the passage of time does not change things and we should learn that lesson. This is the event: the Mosaddeq administration – that had managed to release oil, the national wealth of the country, from the claws and hands of the English with the help of other people who existed in those days such as the late Ayatollah Kashani and others – made a historical mistake which was relying on America. He thought that he would have a supporter in international arenas against the enmity of the English. On that day, he believed that that supporter was America. He trusted the Americans and his hopes were pinned on them. The Americans used this optimism and naivety and staged the coup d’état of the 28th of Mordad.
An American agent with a specific name and identity came to our country. This has been recorded in history and we know him – his name exists in history. He was an American. He went and positioned himself in the English or in a western – perhaps Canadian – embassy. Then, he divided the money that he had brought with himself to employ some people. There were certain treacherous elements and agents inside the country as well. It was he who staged the coup d’état of the 28th of Mordad. This way he wasted all the efforts that the people of Iran had made in the course of two, three years – the era of the nationalization of oil industry. They also arrested and imprisoned Mosaddeq and then they returned Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – who had escaped from Iran – and put him on the throne. Twenty five years – from the year 1953 to the year 1979 – of the people’s lives were spent under the yoke of the imposed and dependent Pahlavi regime with all kinds of humiliations, pressures and difficulties. It was the Americans who did this.
Their military agents occupied our army and their economic agents furthered their economic policies. Moreover – these were only on-the-surface and overt things that they did – they did some covert things that our analysts have unfortunately not attended to yet. They have not managed yet to attend to those covert moves that were made in the direction of destroying the people of Iran’s spiritual and human sources of wealth. These moves were made by the Americans during these 25 years. These are issues that need research and follow-up.
Suppressing and pressuring the people of Iran, wasting the human resources of our country, looting its natural resources and making the Iranian nation disreputable among Muslim nations in the region were things that the Americans did during these 25 years. How many people were killed, how many individuals were imprisoned and tortured and what treacherous policies were adopted against the people of Iran inside the country! All these things were done under the shadow of the Americans’ presence and their installed government in Iran, and because of the trust that that mister placed in America out of naivety.
Coup d'état: the art of suppressing a nation will
In the modern world politics, they use art inappropriately. The claim that politics does not do this is totally uninformed. Not only does politics abuse art in the modern world, but it has been do this from a long time ago. I received a translation of a document about the Mordad 28 Coup published by the US Department of State. Of course I was about 14 or 15 years old when this event took place, and I remember very few things. I have heard a lot about the event, and I have read extensively about it, but the document that was published by the US Department of State is much more detailed. This document has been written and sent to the US Department of State and the CIA by those who were directly involved in the event. This document belongs to the Americans. Of course the operation was carried out jointly by the Americans and the British, which has also been completely reflected in the report. The part that I want to focus on is where Kim Roosevelt says when they arrived in Tehran, they were carrying a big suitcase full of articles that were supposed to be translated and published in Iranian newspapers. Roosevelt also says that they had brought with them some caricatures. Think about it: Fearing that the US may be outdone by the U.S.S.R., the CIA used all the means – including artistic means – in order to bring down a government that did not agree with them and refused to preserve their interests. They used all the means to bring down a government that was founded on the votes of the people – unlike all Pahlavi governments, the government they wanted to overthrow was a populist government that had been established legally through an election. Of course they must not have found a trustworthy caricaturist for their purpose at that time, so they brought caricatures with them. It is said in the document that they had asked the CIA to provide those things. As it happens, a book was published in Italy some years ago in which there is a mention of the CIA's art department and its different activities. This is how art is used by politics.
July 23, 2001
How the CIA used agitators and thugs
On August 19, 1953, a group of agitators and domestic agents of the enemy created chaos and caused a commotion in the country. As a result, the clergy was sidelined, the public was disheartened and the way was paved for the tyrannical dictatorship of Mohammad Reza [Pahlavi] and U.S. domination of this country. Today, they intend to do the same thing.
"However, today the situation in this country is different from those days, as the Iranian people are aware and vigilant. Today the United States cannot act the way it did on August 19, 1953, or Britain cannot treat the Iranian people the way it did during Reza Khan's time. Today, the zealous youth of this country, who are ready to defend Islam, and their faithful and vigilant parents constitute a nation that is an example for all other nations. Today, other nations look to and are inspired by our nation."