Mossadegh Nationalizes Iran's Oil Industry
A parliament votes unanimously to take back what a 1901 concession gave away
Quick facts
- Mossadegh became prime minister
- April 28, 1951
- Nationalized company
- Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
- Parliamentary vote
- Unanimous
- Domestic reception
- Treasured as a national victory, per US diplomats
What happened
Mohammad Mossadegh became Iran's prime minister on April 28, 1951, and immediately upon his appointment, the Iranian Parliament unanimously voted for the immediate implementation of nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the renamed successor to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company that had controlled Iranian oil production since 1909. Mossadegh's government subsequently rejected British and American attempts to negotiate compensation terms it viewed as inadequate, driving British oil company staff and government representatives out of Iran. American diplomats at the time observed that the nationalization movement was supported by the majority of articulate Iranians and that its success was treasured by most Iranians as a national victory over the powers of foreign imperialism.
Why it matters
Nationalization made Mossadegh enormously popular at home as the man who had finally overturned a colonial-era oil concession, but it also triggered a British oil embargo and set Mossadegh on a collision course with Britain and, increasingly, the United States, a confrontation that would end in his removal from power two years later. Iranians continued to regard nationalization itself as a legitimate and necessary step, whatever they made of what came next.
How we know
Mossadegh's nationalization policy and the American diplomatic assessment of its domestic popularity are documented in contemporaneous US State Department cables and reports, since declassified and published in the official Foreign Relations of the United States document series.
Sources
- US Department of State, Office of the Historian. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran, Document 31 · Primary source (author-declared)history.state.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- US Department of State, Office of the Historian. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran, Document 355 · Primary source (author-declared)history.state.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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