Iranian Newspapers and the Oil Question
August 27, 1951 — Australian Associated Press

The Mossadegh Project | June 5, 2014                       


An Australian Associated Press (AAP) wire service item from August 27, 1951.

The newspaper in question, Atesh, was a hard line opposition paper belonging to Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi. He not only participated in the 1953 coup, but was also the first person to speak over the seized Tehran radio station airwaves.




Press Attack On Mossadeq

Moderate Teheran newspaper, "Attesh," [meaning “fire”] which until recently supported Dr. Mossadeq’s oil policy, said yesterday: “Persia is on the verge of ruin.”

The newspaper criticised Dr. Mossadeq for “lack of vigorous policy,” and added “We ask Mossadeq to say clearly if you can run the oil industry and if you can reliably export oil. We want you to know the people are tired of idle talk and official statements. They are weary of hearing from you the clever replies you gave to the British. They want to know what you are going to do next, and how and when you are going to do it.”

Shahed, the newspaper of Dr. Mossadeq’s national front party, said: “The world should know we are determined and capable of running our own oil industry.”

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Related links:

Big Iran Paper [Kayhan] Hits Mossadegh | Associated Press, May 18, 1952

A Confused Leader: Persia’s Future at the Cross Roads | The Age, June 23, 1951

Iran Newspaper Blasts U.S. Offer Of $10 Million | AP, September 2, 1952



MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”

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