UK Must Apologize for Role in 1953 Coup in Iran: Envoy

In a tweet on Tuesday, Hamid Baeidinejad said it’s time for London to apologize as it contributed heavily to the coup which toppled the democratically-elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh.

“67 years have passed since the US-engineered coup against the government of Dr. Mosaddegh. Britain had an effective role in the coup d’état, and numerous documents are available to prove that,” he added.

“The British government has, to date, even refused to make a simple and official apology to the Iranian nation,” he added.

“Isn’t it time [for the UK] to apologize and make up for the past,” the ambassador asked rhetorically.

The 1953 Iranian coup d’état was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favour of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) on 19 August 1953. The coup was orchestrated by the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project or “Operation Ajax”) and the United Kingdom (under the name “Operation Boot”), and carried out by the Iranian military.

Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now part of BP), and to limit the company’s control over Iranian oil reserves. Upon the AIOC‘s refusal to co-operate with the Iranian government, the Iranian parliament voted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country. Finally, Britain contributed to the CIA-orchestrated coup to topple Mosaddegh’s government.