On this day in 1953, the U.S. and British governments initiated a coup d'état against the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had been preparing to nationalize Iran's British-owned oil fields.

Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), later re-named British Petroleum, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves. When the AIOC refused to cooperate with the Iranian government, the parliament voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country.

In response, the British began a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically and engaged in subterfuge to undermine Mosaddegh's government.

Judging Mosaddegh to be unreliable and fearing a communist takeover, Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration overthrew Iran's government. The coup action was also supported by the Iranian clergy, who opposed Mosaddegh's secularism.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hired mobsters to stage pro-Shah riots and paid people to travel to Tehran and take over the streets of the city. Between 200 and 300 people were killed in the ensuing mayhem.

Mosaddegh was arrested, tried, and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. Many of his supporters were imprisoned, several received the death penalty. Mosaddegh himself lived the rest of his life under house arrest, dying in 1967.

After the coup, the Shah ruled as a monarch for the next 26 years until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • Moss [they/them]
    ·
    4 months ago

    Redditors are fucking desperate to be in a position where they can be violent in a legal and celebrated way. They love clips of thieves getting attacked by shop employees or security. They fantasize about killing home invaders. They love to talk about dismembering and killing pedophiles, because, what, are you gonna jump to the defense of pedophiles? They have a fantasy of "righteous violence", where they basically get to beat the shit out of anyone who starts a fight with them.

    • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Saw a video on twitter recently that was titled "Influencer X and Guy Y caught a child molester shaved his head and made him eat the spiciest hot sauce in the world 😂😂"

      Which really rubbed the wrong way. That's pure, malicious sadism. Nothing to do with justice.

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
      ·
      4 months ago

      Every dude ever after hearing an anecdote about any kind of grievance : "if that were me I would have beat the shit out of them!"

      No you wouldn't. You do nothing and stew about it. When your fantasy reaction is senseless violence that you can't go around doing day to day without being put in prison pretty quick it may also lead to you having no clue what to do in any unpleasant interaction cause all you've ever imagined is fighting your way out. Fantasize about talking your way out of things or whatever, it's more useful irl

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      and yet no desire for violence against the ones actually fucking over their lives.

      its always like nooooo, this time we have to be civil with murderers and war criminals.