Man who stood up against the tyranny

I just finished the wonderful work of Stephen Kinzer in All the Shah's Men and I should say that more than any book or article in my native language, Persian, it added to my knowledge about the roots and processes of the 1953 coup.

As an Iranian, the book shed light on many details that either I didn't know about, or I had suspiciously taught in the history books in the school. For example I didn't know about Truman's objection to intervention in Iran. Neither I knew there hadn't been a full consensus in the Britain about the way Anglo-Iranian company was treating Iranians.

But one thing that really shocked me was the fact that how cheaply BBC was being used by Churchill's political to act as a messenger. (They had arranged the regular BBC announcer to say something else to show the Shah of Iran that Roosevelt was really who was claimed he was. See the footnotes.)

Other things were blunt facts about Ayatollah Kashani's betrayal to Mossadegh by receiving $100 thousands of cash from Roosevelt and later welcoming the Shah at 6 AM at Tehran airport when he returned after the success of the coup. This is exactly the opposite of what they've been trying to teach us in school: that it was Mossadegh's fault that the coup went successful, because he hadn't obeyed or got help from Kashani.

But for Western readers, I'd suggest that the chapter about Shia Islam and its relation with Iranian culture should be the most fascinating and enlightening one. Especially because I was surprised how his view of Shia Islam is close to mine: a totally Iranian version of Islam against the dominant Sunni Islam, embraced by the Arabs.

The book introduced me to a great man I didn't know well before, and if some day I seriously get into politics in Iran and could make a change, Mr. Kinzer gets some credits for it, since he showed me the best role-model any patriot, secular and educated Iranian can have.

Although a secular politician, Mohammad Mossadegh is truly a modern version of Imam Hossein, who never sold his idealism to short-term political and personal benefits, unlike Mohammad Khatami who particularly in his second term destroyed his image as a reborn Mossadegh by not standing up against the tyranny of the religious right, even while he was backed by a strong majority of Iranians.

Notes:

• Churchill had arranged that the BBC would end its broadcast day by saying not "It is now midnight," as usual, but "It is now exactly midnight." Such assurances were hardly necessary, the Shah replied. (page 9)

• Mobs and military units whose leaders were on the CIA payroll would crush any attempt by Mossadegh to resist. (page 6)

• According to one account, he [General H. Norman Schwarzkopf] arrived there carrying "a couple of large bags" into which were stuffed several million dollars in cash. He met first with Roosevelt and then with Iranian principals in the operation, to whom he distributed much money. (page 8)

• Decades of British intrigue in Iran, coupled with more recent work by the CIA, gave him excellent assets on the ground. Among them were a handful of experienced and highly resourceful Iranian operatives who had spent years assembling a clandestine network of sympathetic politicians, military officers, clergymen, newspaper editors, and street gang leaders. The CIA was paying these operatives tens of thousands of dollars per month, and they earned every cent. (page 5)