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Collusion, Commerce, and Coup d'etats

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The 1979 Iranian Revolution can at first glance be an elusive and confusing event to understand due to its ever-changing historical documentation and narrative. However current knowledge allows us to grasp the main characters, internal social factors, and external forces that contributed to the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the rise of the Islamic Republic. To lay some groundwork, in 1951, nearly 3 decades prior to the revolution, Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran's prime minister, nationalized the wealth of Iran’s oil fields. This was the beginning of the crisis with the British and the US as they were vehemently opposed to the nationalization and planned to regain control of Iranian Oil. In August 1953 the CIA and MI6 executed a coup against Mossadegh, which initially appeared to fail but was continued and carried out in full due to the actions of American CIA Agent Kermit Roosevelt, and paid off Iranian and other foreign agitators. 

Zahedi was instilled by the Western allies as prime minister and in 1954 the National Iranian Oil Company which was formed in 1951, was restructured under the Consortium Agreement of 1954 to give Iran a 50 percent share of profits. The Consortium gave way to Major British, American, and to a lesser extent Dutch, and French involvement in the production, exportation, and marketing of Iranian oil internationally. As stated by Abrahamian in Modern Iran “The Consortium Agreement was seen as the relinquishing of national sovereignty and the shameful return of colonialism. If Mossadeq embodied patriotism, the shah – by overthrowing him – epitomized the exact opposite. In short, the events of 1953 delegitimized the monarchy, and, thereby, inadvertently paved the way for the eventual 1979 revolution. The coup became the regime’s original sin.”[1] This tremendously weakened the Pahlavi’s authority in the eyes of the people who had instilled such faith into Mosaddegh. Despite the tarnished reputation, the Shah enforced his authority through his expansion of the state military, bureaucracy, and court patronage. These expansions were made possible by NIOC’s oil production skyrocketing to 4th place globally and 2nd place in exportation. The Shah also had plans to build nuclear reactors for the production of nuclear energy further removing Iran’s dependence on Oil. The Shah expanded Iran rapidly in all avenues, bureaucratic, military, and social irrespective of the consequences, and in an attempt to gain popularity by embodying a reformist and socially liberating attitude. 
The question of the revolution in 1979 being inevitable is not a question of merely the influence of politics but of social temperatures and societal thresholds. Internal economic factors, such as the high price of oil, provided the Iranian government with a large cash flow, leading to higher inflation. The traditional Iranian society was not uniformly prepared for rapid modernization, hindering its ability to keep pace with the government’s swift reforms. Religious groups, including influential figures such as Dr. Ali Shariati, Taleghani, and Dr. Morteza Motahari, held significant power and influence over the largely uneducated population, shaping their beliefs and decisions. driven by factors such as the Shah's increasing military power in the Middle East, his plans to monopolize OPEC and oil revenues, and advancements toward nuclear energy. External forces like the US, British, and other European countries played significant roles in fueling the revolution The US and its allies took steps to ensure the disposal or detainment of patriotic generals and political figures aligned with the Shah. With the prospect of financial loss, the Western powers acted quickly to retain their vice grip on Iranian oil fields and their profits.

[1] Abrahamian, Ervand. “Memory Revised.” Chapter 6. In Oil Crisis in Iran: From Nationalism to Coup d’Etat, 155–86. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/oil-crisis-in-iran/memory-revised/0DF89DCBC2E9155AF035BBE1CC809CBA
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