One of the most pivotal moments of the August 19, 1953 (28 Mordad 1332) coup d'état was the takeover of Iran’s main broadcasting facility, Radio Tehran.

This vital asset enabled the monarchists to announce their victory over the government far and wide, quickly distribute their propaganda, and ignite vicious rumors calculated to intimidate all opposition into submission.

That afternoon, after a long break in programming, a gruff voice burst onto the airwaves. It was Seyed Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi, who was both the owner of Atesh (“Fire”) newspaper and a conservative Majles deputy allied with the Court and foreign conspirators. Representing the city of Meshkin Shahr, he had apparently won his Parliament seat as the result of ​election ​​rigging by the royal court.¹

Mir-Ashrafi had two major lies to tell his fellow Iranians:

1) Premier Mohammad Mossadegh had ordered thousands of people to be gunned down in the streets of Tehran.

2) Foreign Minister Hossein Fatemi had been savagely beaten to death by angry mobs.

After this, a representative of an Islamic organization affiliated with Ayatollah Kashani enthusiastically chimes in, and then several others are heard chanting hosannas for the young Shah.

Now you can have a listen to this chilling guerilla broadcast, accompanied by our English translation, for yourself.

Radio Tehran: August 19, 1953

Notes:

¹ Reference to Mir-Ashrafi’s rigged election from:
• Nationalism in Iran by Richard Cottam (1964)
• The Mossadegh Era: Roots of the Iranian Revolution by Sepehr Zabih (1982)
• In the Company of My Father, Mossadegh by Dr. Gholam-Hossein Mossadegh

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ORIGINAL SIN: The 1953 Coup in Iran Clarified | by Arash Norouzi