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Dr Mohammad Mossadegh
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Born 16 June 1882 in Teheran, Iran.
His father, Mirza Hedayat Ashtiani, was the Minister of the
Budget and Finance for 21 years until his death in 1895, (one of the 2 most
important posts in the Qajar Government).
His mother, Makeltadj Firouz, with the title of
Najm-el-Saltaneh, was the grand-daughter of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Her
father, Firouz Mirza Nosrat-el Dowleh, a son of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza.
In 1902 Mohammad Mossadegh married Zahra, Princess Zia
Saltaneh, a grand-daughter of Nasser-el din Shah. Of her, Mossadegh once said,
"We were married for more than 64 years, during which she tolerated all that
befell me. We were both of the same mind and the same opinion...my wish had been
to leave this world before her..."*
Dr. Mossadegh spent his entire adult life serving his
beloved nation, working for its sovereignty and for adherence to the constitution
that he and others had worked and fought so hard to get passed in 1906. Elected
Prime Minister in 1951, he was opposed at every turn by the Shah, by the Court's
political sycophants, by Britain and then also by the U.S.A., as well as their
agents in Iran.
Regardless of these weighty obstacles, he was able to run his government in accordance with the 1906
constitution.
Though loved by a majority of the people, he was hated by
the enemies of an autonomous Iran, and was finally brought down in a now
well-documented coup in 1953, staged by Britain and the U.S.A. The Shah and the
plotters, exasperated by Mossadegh's successes, sent the army into Teheran to
wrest control of the government from its elected officials, thereby putting Iran
and its rich oil reserves back in the pocket of foreign governments.
A prisoner from the day of the coup until his death, this
slight man inspired the masses: "In 1962, during the government of Ali Amini, when the National
Front was allowed to hold one meeting, a crowd of about 100,000 gathered in
Jalalieh Stadium, the old racecourse in Teheran, and called for a return of
Mossadegh. Each speaker was permitted to mention the name of Mossadegh only once
in his entire speech. The crowd knew this and as the speakers, one after another,
escalated their speech to that crescendo point, finally mentioning the name, a
pandemonium of cheers broke out from the crowd."*
"'On the twelfth anniversary of his death, in March 1979, over
one million people came from all over the country on a pilgrimage, the extent of
which had never been seen before or since in modern Iranian history. No other
Iranian politician, statesman or ruler has been given the tribute which was paid
to Mossadegh on that day."
Mohammad Mossadegh, physically frail, stands a giant in the
annals of human kind. He should be made known to the world because he is a true
hero.
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* From: "Mohammad Mossadegh, A Political Biography", by Farhad Diba - Published by Croom Helm, London 1986. |
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