The Mossadegh Project ... So Far
About Us: A Work in Progress

Arash Norouzi
The Mossadegh Project
| August 26, 2011            


Mossadegh Project Seven years ago, mindful that the complete story of the Mossadegh era in Iran has yet to be told, we began an independent non-profit organization to help document, uncover and preserve this crucial period in time. Though what transpired in the early 1950's may seem like the distant past, there are good reasons why this history has profound significance today. Our purpose is to explore not only that history, but its connection to current events and other matters relevant to its central themes. The Mossadegh Project remains, as intended, a work in progress.

Since our inception in 2004, our work has been quoted in the U.S. Congress (twice) and numerous books internationally. We have also been quoted, linked or cited by sources including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Independent, The Guardian, The Chicago Reader, The Irish Times, The Bangkok Post, Salon, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, The New Statesman, Le Monde, The Frederick News-Post, Truthdig, The Christian Science Monitor, Antiwar.com, The Jerusalem Post, PÚBLICO, openDemocracy, Adbusters, PBS Frontline Tehran Bureau, Counterpunch, Breitbart, The Center for Constitutional Rights, Le Temps, The Atlantic... and by academics, writers, scholars and other figures such as Christopher Hedges, Fred Halliday, Philip Weiss, Johann Hari, Hooman Majd, Shireen Hunter, Jonathan Cook, Ray McGovern, Muhammad Sahimi, Jeffrey Goldberg, Haggai Ram, Nasrin Alavi, Mehdi Hasan, Brian Doherty, Cyrus Farivar, Arnaud de Borchgrave, David R. Henderson, Justin Raimondo, Diana Johnstone, Alan Bock, Uri Friedman, Jello Biafra, Richard L. Rubenstein, Dennis Kucinich and many others. Reaching thousands of unique visitors each month, www.MohammadMossadegh.com is also visited regularly by federal institutions in America and abroad including the State Department, House of Representatives, United States Department of Justice, and the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force.



Interview in Washington DC
Interview in DC
Author, New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer
Author/reporter Stephen Kinzer
US Social Forum panel on the Middle East- Atlanta, GA
Middle East panel at the U.S. Social Forum, Atlanta

Our work has often challenged the narratives in the mainstream media and academic circles, and has occasionally succeeded in influencing it.

After we repeatedly corrected errors by the federally funded United States Institute of Peace, USIP reacted by amending their previous statements — twice.

When a leading scholar, Professor Abbas Milani, wrote a revisionist account of the US-Iran relationship in The New Republic, we responded with a point by point rebuttal. Afterwards, one well known writer retracted his previous recommendation of the article, and in reaction to our specific criticisms, it was edited and retitled when later published by Milani's employer, Stanford University.

Our articles clarifying Iran's rhetoric towards Israel were so influential that international news agencies such as the Associated Press actually modified their reporting, in addition to implicitly acknowledging them. One U.S. Congressman responded personally.

In 2008, when Barack Obama made his first subtle overtures to the Iranian regime, the media reported widely about Iran's response toward the newly elected President. While readers were forced to rely on superficial write-ups containing a couple of out of context quotes, we offered the only complete English translation of the speech. More such exclusives are forthcoming.

In order to give Mossadegh more of a voice, we released translations of Mossadegh's words and featured them throughout our site, many of them translated to English for the first time ever. Quotes that we introduced such as "If I sit silently, I have sinned" have since become legendary worldwide.

Nobel prize wining lawyer Shirin Ebadi
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi
Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji
Akbar Ganji
Live TV program in Iran
Iranian TV program

Ebadi in Tehran

For the past several years we have been vocal about the highly unwise prospect of a U.S. military confrontation with Iran. In addition to our articles, talks and radio interviews about this possibility, we produced the widely seen NO! IRAN WAR t-shirts, worn by two Nobel Prize winners (and also displayed prominently in Shirin Ebadi's human rights center in Tehran). In 2008, we were involved with Stephen Kinzer's "Folly of Attacking Iran" national book tour for the re-release of his bestseller All the Shah's Men. The same year, following a speech by Congressman Ron Paul, we spoke at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on US-Iran diplomacy.

While no one knows just what the future holds for Iran, the Middle East, and the foreign policy that orbits them, what is certain is that whatever happens will originate in the mind; from attitudes, perceptions and narratives which — accurate or not — precede all future movements. Raising consciousness is a good starting point.

Change is happening all across the region, and with that, hope for a new day in Iran.

There is much more to come.

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Related links:

The Mossadegh Project (Non-Profit 501c3) Mission Statement

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Biography, Prime Minister of Iran 1951-1953

MOSSADEGH...My Childhood Memory



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

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