Crisis in Iran

Abstract

In April 1951, Mohammad Mosaddeq became prime minister of Iran and nationalized the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. For Iranian nationalists, taking control of their oil industry was an important step toward freeing the nation from foreign influence. The British government strongly supported AIOC and sought to organize Mosaddeq’s removal from power and retain control over Iran’s oil. With the Korean War at its height, the United States wanted to avoid another crisis and US officials worried that nationalization and conflict with Great Britain would produce conditions where communists could take power in Iran. On the recommendation of Secretary of State Dean Acheson, President Harry S Truman sent veteran diplomat Averell Harriman to Iran to broker an agreement that would allow AIOC to remain in control, kept the oil flowing, and satisfy Iran’s nationalists. Neither side would compromise on the issue of control, and after the United States convinced the British to abandon plans to seize the giant AIOC refinery at Abadan, AIOC withdrew from Iran and instituted a boycott of Iranian oil exports.