“A Nation of Potted Plants”

1. “A Nation of Potted Plants” Oil, subterfuge, and the overthrow of mohammadmosaddeq Presented by Nate Levine

2. introduction

3. Thesis • Despite decades of amicable relations with Iran, the Eisenhower administration orchestrated the 1953 coup in order to: • Secure access to Iranian oil • Advance US economic interests

4. Roadmap • Background AIOC and Iran Nationalization • Initial reactions: Great Britain & the U.S. • Operation TPAJAX • Aftermath (benefits for the U.S.)

6. Iran before oil

7. AIOC and Iran • Living conditions of Iranian workers • Lord Curzon: Allies “floated to victory on an ocean of oil”

8. AIOC and iran

9. Nationalization • Political situation chaotic • Mohammad Mosaddeqand the National Front • Nationalization supported unanimously

10. Mosaddeq

11. Initial Reactions • Great Britain furious, threatened Shah • Approached the UN • Boycott of Iranian oil • Approached the U.S. (Truman administration)

12. Don’t forget the Cold war

13. The coup • CIA justification • Bribery • Psychological campaign • Economic sabotage • Anti-Mosaddeq forces

14. Aftermath & benefits for u.s. 1. Access to Oil • Oil Production

15. Aftermath & benefits for u.s. 2. U.S. Benefits • Trade Deficits (standard of living) • Oil concessions • Money, money everywhere

16. Conclusion • Despite years of amicable relations (Iranians viewed U.S. as alternative to imperialism),Eisenhower supported the 1953 CIA coup in order to: • Secured access to Iranian oil -enjoyed “ocean of oil” pre-nationalization -Cold War concerns • Advanced U.S. economic interests -trade deficits -oil concessions

17. bibliography Berman, Morris. Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire. New York: Norton, 2007. Gasiorowski, Mark J. and Malcolm Byrne, eds. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2004. “Iran Paves Way to Nationalize its Oil Fields: British Firm Faces Loss of Concession.” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 19, 1951. http://ezproxy.umw.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.umw.edu/docview/178027651?accountid=12299 Kinzer, Stephen. All The Shah’s Men. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003. Marsh, Steve. “Continuity and Change: Reinterpreting the Policies of the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations toward Iran, 1950-1954.” Journal of Cold War Studies 7, no. 3 (Summer 2005): 79. Mokhtari, Fariborz. “Iran’s 1953 Coup Revisited: Internal Dynamics versus External Intrigue.” Middle East Journal 62, no. 3 (Summer 2008): 457. Ramazani, Rouhollah K. The Foreign Policy of Iran: A Developing Nation in World Affairs 1500-1941. Charlottesville, VA: The University Press of Virginia, 1966. TIME Magazine. “Mohammed Mossadeg, Man of the Year, Jan. 7, 1952.” TIME Man of the Year. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19520107,00.html Towfighi, Parviz S. From Persian Empire to Islamic Iran: A History of Nationalism in the Middle East. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd., 2009. Wilber, Donald. “Document 1: CIA, Clandestine Service History, Overthrow of Premier Mossadeqof Iran, November 1952-August 1953.” The National Security Archive (1954), accessed November 15, 2013, http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/#_ftn1