Mohammad Mossadegh

Mohammad Mossadegh was an Iranian nationalist and prime minister who led the 1951 nationalisation of the British-controlled oil industry. His stand triggered a British boycott and, in 1953, a covert coup organised by British and American intelligence, known as Operation Ajax, that removed him from power. He was arrested, tried, and kept under house arrest until his death. The coup restored the Shah's autocratic rule and became a defining case of Cold War intervention that later declassified files confirmed.