| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | March 9, 2025 |
In August 1953,
the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, signed two controversial farmans (royal decrees). These pieces of paper altered the destiny of Iran forever.
The first decree dismissed Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, who had been Prime Minister for two years. The second appointed his replacement, Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi.
Yet it was not so simple as that. After Mossadegh was served around midnight on
August 16th, he promptly had the officer, Nematollah Nassiri, arrested. The Shah and Queen escaped to
Baghdad and
Rome while Zahedi went into
hiding. Their coup had failed, or so it seemed at the time.
Early that morning (Aug. 16) news correspondents were invited to a secret, remote area in the hills north of Tehran to hear a written statement from Zahedi. They were also given photostatic copies of the Shah’s decree which named Zahedi,
then sequestered in a CIA safe house, as the new Premier.
“His imperial majesty with his constitutional power has discharged Mr. Mossadegh", insisted Zahedi. “I am the legal prime minister.”
The statement disclaimed any intent to attempt a coup, that the army was merely carrying out the Shah’s legal orders. Referring to Mossadegh’s defiance of the decrees, he said, “If Mr. Mossadegh does not want to obey and respect our
country’s laws and Constitution, that is something unfortunate.” He emphasized that Mossadegh had lost all authority, and that any order he might declare was invalid.
Zahedi did not mention that U.S. and British intelligence services had orchestrated and financed the whole operation, or that the CIA had pushed the Shah hard, even under threat of dethronement, to issue the decrees. Getting
the young monarch to finally sign them, as the saying goes, was like pulling teeth.
In the three days that followed, the various factions clashed in the street, including CIA-paid mobs. Mossadegh’s home was attacked by army bullets and tanks, and after a nine hour battle, he was soon forced to flee, after which he
surrendered. Hundreds of Iranians lost their lives.
Here is the decree installing Zahedi in English and the original Persian.
Mr. Fazlollah Zahedi
The current situation in the nation requires that we appoint an informed and experienced person to take charge of the country’s affairs.
Therefore, with your sufficiency and competence in mind, you are hereby appointed as the Prime Minister.
We stipulate that you will make sufficient efforts reforming the country’s affairs, resolving the current crisis and raising people’s standard of living.
22 Mordad, 1332 [August 13, 1953]
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
• Translated by Ebrahim Norouzi. © The Mossadegh Project
جناب فضل الله زاهدی
نظر باینکه اوضاع کشور ایجاب می کند که شخص مطلع و با سابقه برای در دست گرفتن زمام امور مملکت
تعیین نماییم لذا با اطلایی که به کفایت و شایستگی شما داریم به موجب این دستخط بسمت نخست وزیری
منصوب می شوید و مقرر می داریم که در اصلاح امور کشور و رفع بحران کنونی و بالا بردن سطح زندگی
مردم اهتمام و سعی کافی بعمل آورید . ۲۲مرداد ۱۳۳۲ محمد رضا پهلوی
788.00/8–1653: Telegram
261. Telegram From the Embassy in Iran to the Department of State [Gordon H. Mattison to State Dept.]
Tehran, August 16, 1953, 10 a.m..
RESTRICTED
NIACT [night action]
333. Embassy received [an] unconfirmed report from [a] good source [that the] Shah in dismissing Mosadeq issued [a] royal decree appointing General Zahedi [as] Prime Minister. Reports [were] also received [that] Acting Minister [of]
Court Amini and other court officials [were] arrested this morning. [Ali Amini]
Up to 9:30 a.m. city appears calm, extra police on duty, with tanks and truck loads security forces around royal palaces and Prime Minister’s residence. Embassy eyewitness reports seeing orderly crowd approximately 200 proceeding
toward Baharestan Square waving Iranian flags.
[The] Prime Minister’s office phoned [the] Embassy [at] 8:45 a.m. advising [the] Embassy and Point IV [to] close as trouble [was] expected. Appropriate instructions [were] issued.
Rumors [are] now prevalent and received by varied Embassy sources to [the] effect [that the] alleged coup [was] inspired by [the] government. [The] Reasoning behind this general impression is [that] this action [was] necessary [to] give
Mosadeq [the] excuse [to] move against [the] Shah.
Mattison
[Gordon H. Mattison, Counselor of Embassy
in Iran from April 1952 to October 1953]
• Bracketed text added for better readability. [Annotations by Arash Norouzi]
• Source: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Iran, 1951–1954 (2017). Previously included in the 1989 FRUS as No. 343: The Chargé in Iran (Mattison) to the Department of State.
• “Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DDO Files, Job 79–01228A, Box 11, Folder 14, Iran 1951–1953. Restricted; NIACT. Repeated to London NIACT and to Beirut for Ambassador Henderson
[Loy Henderson]. Received at 10 a.m.” — U.S. State Department Office of the Historian
788.00/8–1653: Telegram
266. Telegram From the Embassy in Iran to the Department of State [Gordon H. Mattison to State Dept.]
Tehran, August 16, 1953, 3 p.m.
RESTRICTED
NIACT [night action]
342. Late [on the] morning [of] August 16, correspondents Donald Schwind, Associated Press, and Kennett Love, New York Times, went to [the] hills north of Tehran at [the] request [of the] son of General Zahedi for [a] conference.
Zahedi [was] not present, but [his] son showed [a] signed decree from [the] Shah and gave photostats of it to newsmen. [Ardeshir Zahedi]
[The] Decree, signed by Shah, dated Thursday, August 13, 1953, said:
“[In] View of [the] fact [that the] situation of [the] nation necessitates appointment of an informed and experienced man who can grasp [the] affairs of [the] country readily, I therefore, with [the] knowledge I have of your ability and merit, appoint you with this letter [as] Prime Minister. We give into your hands [the] duty to improve [the] affairs of the nation and remove [the] present crisis and raise [the] living standard of [the] people.”
Zahedi’s son said [his] father naturally [was] in hiding; that [a] coup [was] not intended; that Colonel Nasari went to [the] Prime Minister’s home this morning with soldiers to present this decree to Mosadeq and was arrested by guards.
[Col. Nematollah Nassiri]
[A] Translator [at the] US Embassy, well acquainted with Shah’s signature because [of] previous employment, saw [the] photostat and declared [his] belief [that the] Shah’s signature [was] genuine.
Mattison
[Gordon H. Mattison, Counselor of Embassy
in Iran from April 1952 to October 1953]
• Bracketed text added for better readability. [Annotations by Arash Norouzi]
• Source: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Iran, 1951–1954 (2017). Previously included in the 1989 FRUS as No. 344: The Chargé in Iran (Mattison) to the Department of State.
• “Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DDO Files, Job 79–01228A, Box 11, Folder 14, Iran 1951–1953. Restricted; NIACT. Repeated to London NIACT and to Beirut for Ambassador Henderson.
[Loy Henderson] Received at 10 a.m.” — U.S. State Department Office of the Historian
Radio Broadcast by Fazlollah Zahedi (Aug. 19, 1953)
“Dear compatriots, in the name of the Almighty I address you.
By order of His Majesty, Mohammad Shah Reza Pahlavi, I have been appointed your premier.
Past governments have made many promises but have accomplished very little.
The nation must know that I am the lawful premier on the Shah’s orders.
The principal points of my program are:
1. The rule of law.
2. Raising the standards of living.
3. Free health service for all.
4. Mechanization of agriculture.
5. Road construction.
6. Insurance of public security.
7. Protection of individual and social freedom.
8. Promotion of co-operative societies.
Long live Mohammad Shah Reza Pahlavi.”
• Source: The Associated Press, August 20, 1953
Related links:
General Zahedi Seeks Shah’s Support To Overthrow Mossadeq | CIA, April 2, 1953
Corruption in the Zahedi Government | CIA Report, June 14, 1954
Newsweek Prints Fake CIA Story of Iranian “Invasion” (April 1953)
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
