Iran To Sue USA For Hand in 1953 Coup Against Democratically Elected Mosaddeq

Aug. 27, 2013

Press

Iranian parliamentarians have approved fast tracking debate on a bill that seeks to sue the United States for its involvement in the 1953 coup d’état against the democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq.

During an open session of the Majlis on Tuesday, 173 Iranian lawmakers voted in favor of the urgency of discussing the motion for taking legal action against the US.

Iran Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani urged the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee to discuss the motion later in the day and hold detailed discussions about it on Wednesday.

In case of final approval, an ad hoc committee will be set up to debate ways of lodging a formal complaint against the US government for its meddling in Iran’s internal affairs and demanding damages.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has for the first time published a document that confirms Washington’s role in the 1953 coup.

The open acknowledgment by the US intelligence community comes some six decades after the British- and American-backed military overthrow.

On August 15, 1953, the British and US intelligence agencies initiated a coup by the Iranian military, setting off a chain of events including riots on the streets of Iran’s capital, Tehran, that led to the overthrow and arrest of Mosaddeq four days later.

Mosaddeq, convicted of treason, served three years in prison and died under house arrest in 1967.