Mohammad Mosaddegh · "The Shah has no constitutional right to dismiss me. This is a coup against the..."

Statement following his forced resignation in August 1953, during the U.S./UK-backed coup. · Checked on 2 March 2026

The Shah has no constitutional right to dismiss me. This is a coup against the legal government of Iran.

Analysis

The 1906 Persian Constitution, as amended in 1921, allowed the Shah to appoint and dismiss the prime minister, subject to parliamentary confidence, so the Shah did have a legal basis for removal. However, Mosaddegh’s removal was engineered by covert CIA/MI6 operations and the military, bypassing constitutional processes, which qualifies as a coup against a legally elected government. Thus the statement mixes a true characterization of the event with a false assertion about constitutional rights.

Background

Mohammad Mosaddegh was Iran’s democratically elected prime minister who was ousted in August 1953 after a CIA‑MI6‑backed operation (Operation Ajax) that forced his resignation and installed General Zahedi. The Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, used his constitutional powers to appoint a new government, but the manner of the removal violated democratic norms.

Verdict summary

Mosaddegh correctly identified the 1953 overthrow as a coup, but his claim that the Shah lacked any constitutional authority to dismiss him is false.

Sources consulted

— Kinzer, Stephen. *All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror*. 2003.

— U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, "Iran – The 1953 Coup d'Etat" (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/iran-coup).

— Constitution of Iran (1906, as amended 1921) – Article on the Shah’s authority to appoint and dismiss the prime minister.