Chapter 45 Iranians challenging Anglo-American oil interests

In the 1950s, although Britain seemed in many ways to have lost its imperial grandeur, she remained firmly in control of the priorities of colonial reorganization.Instead of betting everything on maintaining a formally sprawling empire as far away as India, she has reinvented herself, with US backing, into a more profitable empire capable of controlling the world's oil and strategic raw materials.Therefore, Egypt and the Suez Canal have become the strategic focus of the United Kingdom, through which a large amount of Middle Eastern oil flows into Europe. According to this important location, the United Kingdom can maintain the interests of the Middle East, especially Iran.In Iran, the British government, through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, maintained control over the country's political and economic future despite the pressures of the world war.

Back in William.Knox.In the Darcy era (as mentioned above), that is, between 1901 and 1902, Britain spared no effort to obtain a monopoly on oil in Persia. In order to control Iranian oil, Britain ran around in this area like a tiger looking for food.During World War II, Britain played a treacherous role in convincing the Soviet Union's Stalin to join the invasion of Iran on the grounds that the presence of German engineers in this neutral country was itself reason enough to go to war. In August 1941, one month after the Anglo-Soviet troops occupied Iran, the Shah of Iran was forced to abdicate to his son Mohammad Pahlavi. Because of this, the Shah was able to accept the Anglo-Soviet military occupation.

The British occupying force, later supplemented by a small contingent of American troops, did nothing when it learned that the wartime "ally" the Soviet Union had expropriated much of the food in northern Iran occupied by Soviet troops.Tens of thousands of Iranians died of starvation while 100,000 Russian soldiers and 70,000 British and Indian soldiers were prioritized for supplies.Typhoid fever is raging all over Iran, and there are many mourners.Trains transporting British and American leased supplies went to Russia via the Iranian Railways.In the harsh winter of 1944-1945, thousands of people were frozen to death due to lack of heating oil.During this period, the British policy was to completely humiliate Iranian nationalists and the government, and to encourage superstitious and feudal sentiments in Iran.

The Iranian government is eagerly seeking support from a third party and has asked the United States to provide assistance. In 1942, U.S. military commander Norman Schwarzkopf (father of the commander of U.S. Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991) came to Iran, where he spent six years training a national police force , until 1948.It turned out that Schwarzkopf and his contacts in the Iranian army played a key role in the August 1953 overthrow of Iranian nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Although the wartime Tehran Conference made a solemn declaration to restore post-war Iran's sovereignty and was signed by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, the Soviet Union still demanded exclusive oil exploration in the northern part of Iran bordering Azerbaijan, while the United Kingdom demanded the same More mining rights for government-linked Royal Dutch Shell.This brazen diplomatic blackmail culminated in the occupation of Iranian territory, and in December 1944, Iranian nationalist leader Dr. Mosaddegh introduced a bill to the Iranian parliament banning oil negotiations with foreign countries.

Mossadegh quoted an article in the London edition of Time magazine on November 2, 1944, which suggested that after the war, Iran should be divided among Britain, Russia, and the United States.Mossadegh's plan was passed by the parliament, but the plan did not resolve the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's oil exploration rights in southern Iran. This mining right has existed since the age of Darcy in 1901. By 1948, after a bitter struggle, including taking the issue to the newly formed United Nations, Iran finally forced foreign troops to leave the country.However, through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the British government still effectively controls the Iranian nation's economy.The whole world knows that certain provinces in the southern part of Iran have rich oil reserves. The oil exploration rights in these areas were granted to the United Kingdom decades ago, and it is an exclusive monopoly.To ensure a monopoly, British government officials have de facto run Iranian state institutions since 1919.As for Iranian sovereignty, it was set aside.

However, with the end of the Second World War, the anti-colonial movement that first appeared in India surged, spread rapidly from Asia to Africa, and spread all over the world. Iran could no longer bear the trampling on its national sovereignty. In late 1947, the Iranian government suggested that, given that Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was the most profitable oil extraction company in the world, but the Iranian government's share of its total revenue was pitifully low, it should be increased. Iran cited the example of Venezuela.In Venezuela, Standard Oil agreed to a 50-50 split with the local government.Iran put forward the same condition. If the plan is passed, the precious oil will be exchanged for Iran's 100 million U.S. dollars per year instead of a mere 36 million U.S. dollars. At that time, 100 million U.S. dollars was a large amount.Even so, the Iranian government calculated that Anglo-Iranian Oil and the British actually paid only 8 percent of the net oil profits.The 100,000-square-mile area in which the UK has exclusive monopoly mining rights has refused meaningful development.According to Iran's calculations, in 1948, Iran's oil production was 23 million tons, and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's profit was 3.2 billion U.S. dollars, and it only paid Iran 36 million U.S. dollars in royalties.Based on these data, the Iranian government proposes that mining rights must be renegotiated under the principles of justice and fairness.

London, of course, was dissatisfied with this suggestion. BBC Radio began broadcasting a flood of fake news against the Iranian government, claiming that Iranian Foreign Minister Esfandiari had made a disgraceful concession to British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin to amend Iran's constitution.And that's just the initial reaction. Negotiations to revise the Anglo-Iranian agreement dragged on, and by 1949 there had been no substantial concessions from the British side.Their strategy is to delay, which is not good for the Iranian government.Iran's parliamentary elections were due to begin in late 1949, and Dr. Mossadegh and his small National Front party were actively advocating for oil negotiations.The National Front party won six seats in the new parliament, and by December Mossadegh was appointed head of the parliament's oil committee.Iran has demanded a 50-50 profit split and participation in Anglo-Iranian oil company management.Due to the endless debate on this issue, the Iranian government has been constantly changing.Until April 1951, when Mossadegh was elected prime minister, Britain did not even meet half of the conditions demanded by the Iranian government.Contrary to the subsequent propaganda in Washington and London, Mossadegh was not a communist in the Iranian People's Party or an agent of the Soviet Union, nor was he a fanatical extremist.Whatever his flaws, he was a passionate patriot and a staunch enemy of the Soviet Union.

On March 15, the Iranian parliament voted to approve the Mossadegh Council's proposal to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian oil company on the basis of fair compensation.The final nationalization plan was approved by parliament on April 28, 1951, just one day before Mossadegh formed his government. In the eyes of the British, Iran has committed an unforgivable crime.Iran has acted effectively to protect its own national interests while ignoring British interests.Britain immediately threatened retaliation.Within days, the British Navy was near Abadan.This time, Britain's hypocrisy was once again exposed.Previously, the British Foreign Office had refused to intervene in Anglo-Iranian oil company's negotiations with the Iranian government, claiming that it would not interfere in the affairs of "private companies", despite the indisputable fact that the British government owns 53% of Anglo-Iranian oil company. .Now, with Iran's nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian oil company, the British government has not only interfered in Iran's negotiations with the company, but backed its demands, sending the Royal Navy into Iranian waters and threatening to capture Abba with paratroopers Dangang, and the euphemistic name is to protect the interests of the United Kingdom.

Abadan Port was the largest oil refining base in the world at the time and was part of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. During Mossadegh's 28 months as prime minister, Britain encountered a formidable obstacle.Iran has full legal power to nationalize any company in its territory, as long as fair compensation is offered, as Mossadegh's government has done.In addition, Iran also assured the United Kingdom that it will continue to maintain the oil supply enjoyed by the British before nationalization and continue to employ British people in the company. In September 1951, Britain announced comprehensive economic sanctions against Iran, including a total embargo on Iranian oil and freezing all overseas assets of Iran in British banks.British warships are already anchored in waters off the Iranian coast, and the army and air force are also heading for British-controlled Basra in Iraq, near the Abadan oil refinery complex.All Anglo-American oil companies joined the embargo of the British.Economic sanctions are London and Washington's response to the assertion of national sovereignty by developing countries, and they will use sanctions whenever developing countries threaten their core interests.Secret intelligence agents in Britain lured whistleblowers in Iran's central bank and other government agencies to learn in real time the impact of economic sanctions on Iran.

Potential buyers of nationalized Iranian oil are constantly intimidated by Anglo-American oil companies: they will face legal action because a compensation agreement between Anglo-Iranian Oil and Iran has not yet been signed.Such vague legal rhetoric belies their own strategy.Anglo-Iranian oil company and the British government have refused to sign any compensation agreement.Meanwhile, as the months passed and the impact of the embargo on Iran's fragile economy became apparent, the economic troubles afflicting Mossadegh's regime grew rapidly.Oil revenue, the main source of foreign export income, plummeted from US$400 million in 1950 to less than US$2 million from July 1951 to August 1953 when Mossadegh stepped down.

In September of that year, Mossadegh visited the United States in his personal capacity to address the United Nations Security Council, which voted cautiously to delay the matter.After that, Mossadegh came to Washington to seek the support of the United States, but returned without success.Mossadegh's major political blunder was his lack of awareness of the strong relationship between Anglo-American interests on the strategic issue of oil control.The American "mediator" Harriman went to Iran, accompanied by a delegation of people with close ties to the interests of "big oil," including State Department economist Walter Levy.Harriman suggested that Iran accept British terms.When Mossadegh was in Washington, the only suggestion he heard from the US State Department was to hire Royal Dutch Shell to manage the Iranian company. When Britain insisted on taking the case to an international court for arbitration, Mossadegh thought Iran would win, since he himself had been legally educated in Belgium and Switzerland. On July 22, 1952, the International Court of Justice rejected British jurisdiction and recommended that the case be returned to Iran for trial. Assessing the situation in December 1952, New York Herald Tribune reporter Ned Russell accurately wrote that the leader of a small country seldom had the courage of Mossaddegh when his country suffered from British and then American imposition. Mossadegh directly said "no" to Truman and Churchill during the economic and financial blockade.Russell noted that Churchill's tactic was to "bind the United States and Great Britain tightly together against Mossadegh." By 1953, British and American intelligence agencies were ready to respond.In May of the same year, the new US President Dwight Eisenhower accepted the advice of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and CIA Director Allen Dulles to reject Mossadegh's request for financial assistance. On Aug. 10, CIA Director Allen Dulles met with the U.S. ambassador to Tehran, Loy Henderson, and the Shah's sister in Switzerland.Meanwhile, in August 1953, after five years of disappearance, General Norman Schwarzkopf came to Tehran to visit an "old friend."He had a close relationship with the king and with some of the key army generals whom he had trained early on, who were promised power in the event of a successful coup against Mossadegh. With the help of royalists in the Iranian army, British and American intelligence agents staged a coup and forcibly arrested Mossadegh.Mossadegh's influence has been severely weakened by two years of ruthless economic warfare and the defection of key supporters of the government.The British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) convinced CIA Director Allen Dulles and his brother John Foster Dulles, the U.S. Secretary of State, who in turn convinced Eisenhower.The overthrow of Mossadegh was inevitable. The CIA, codenamed "Operation AJAX", overthrew the Mossadegh government in August 1953 with the full cooperation of the British Secret Intelligence Service.With the support of Britain and the United States, the young Shah Pahlavi acted as a vanguard against Mossadegh.The king came back, economic sanctions were lifted, and Anglo-American oil interests were preserved.This incident showed that, after the war, anyone who dared to challenge the will of the Anglo-American oil companies would respond in the same way.Ironically, some 25 years later, the same scene was repeated for the king. The first few years of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for British and American intelligence agencies to flex their muscles.Any substantive opposition to their policies can easily be labeled as a Communist Party or "communist leaning".In any case, it is easier to do so with little-known leaders in developing countries or newly independent former colonies than against them directly.In the decades after the war, this trick has been tried repeatedly in London and Washington.As a result, Mossadegh became an irresponsible barbaric radical who cooperated with the communists and threatened the strategic security of the West.