EYE-RAN: DON'T TALK ABOUT A PLACE UNTIL YOU CAN PRONOUNCE IT. posted by Richard Seymour

Iran is, of course, that funny place where all the Arabs live. You demur? Okay, its that funny place where all the non-Arab fundamentalists live. Still you persist? Alright, it's that place where some fundamentalists live who by no means represent the majority of the Iranian population. Obviously my stint writing for the Daily Express didn't prepare me for a tough audience like you.

Iran is also that place where the CIA overthrew the democratically elected President, Dr Mohammed Mossadegh . Aha! Gotcha there. Not the slightest whiff of dissent from any of you.

This is a matter of some import if we are to judge the words and actions of the West in relation to the present insurgency in Iran. And the evidence apparently points to a more complex story than we might generally receive. For one thing, it was not solely a CIA op. For another, it was not solely for the benefit of US imperialism. The last embers of Empire were still glowing in the hearth as the Iranians experience a democratic political awakening. In particular, the British oil hegemon - the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC, later to become BP) - was, we all know, compromised in its operations by being ... well, nationalised. Britain's Ambassador in Tehran commented that 'it is so important to prevent the Persians from destroying their main source of revenue... by trying to run it themselves... The need for Persia is not to run the industry for herself (which she cannot do) but to profit from the technical ability of the West'. Iranians can't run their own oil supplies and neither can Iraqis these days.

The Iranians did offer the British compensation, but the Empire wanted either a new oil concession or compensation for all future profits likely to be made. 'In other words', according to Iranian scholar Homa Katouzian,'the Iranians would have had either to give up the spirit of the nationalisation or to compensate the AIOC not just for its investment but for all the oil which it would have produced in the next 40 years'. For some reason, the bloody Persians weren't having it: 'Persian public opinion', the British Ambassador commented, 'is unanimous in rejecting the [British] offer'.

I detect some yawning. "We know the Brits were involved, lenin, even the bloody BBC admits that!" Yes, but the scoop, according to our own favourite Mark Curtis is that "the planning record reveals not only that Britain was the prime mover in the initial project to overthrow the government but also that British resources contributed significantly to the eventual success of the operation."

He observes that they considered a number of options, prior to coup:

"First, the Chiefs of Staff observed that 'the simplest method of bringing the Persians to heel might well be simply to stop the production and export of oil'. This the AIOC subsequently did, depriving Iran of its main source of income until the 1953 coup, even though, as the Chiefs of Staff had noted, 'the effect might be to bankrupt Persia thus possibly leading to revolution'."

"The second dimension of British policy was to exert pressure, and begin covert planning, to install 'a more reasonable government', as Foreign Secretary Eden put it."

"The third option was direct military intervention. The military occupation and holding of the area around Abadan - the site of the world's largest oil refinery and the centre of AIOC's operations - 'would demonstrate once and for all to the Persians British determination not to allow the... AIOC to be evicted from Persia and might well result in the downfall of the Mussadiq regime and its replacement by more reasonable elements prepared to negotiate a settlement'. Also, 'it might be expected to produce a salutary effect throughout the Middle East and elsewhere, as evidence that United Kingdom interests could not be recklessly molested with impunity'." (The Ambiguities of Power: British Foreign Policy since 1945 (Zed Press, 1995). )

He concludes that the end result was a "joint MI6-CIA operation". "The go-ahead for the coup was finally given by the US in late June [1953] - Britain by then already having presented a 'complete plan' to the CIA - and Churchill's authorisation soon followed, the date being set for mid-August."

"When the coup scenario finally began, huge demonstrations proceeded in the streets of Tehran, funded by CIA and MI6 money, $1 million dollars of which was in a safe in the US embassy and £1.5 million which had been delivered by Britain to its agents in Iran, according to the MI6 officer responsible for delivering it."

"Mobs" were dispatched to the streets to stir up trouble, and MI6 took the trouble to portray them as supporters of the Tudeh (the Iranian Communists), thus helping to legitimise the coup as a reaction against possible communist takeover. " 'The purpose', Brian Lapping explains, 'was to frighten the majority of Iranians into believing that a victory for Mussadeq would be a victory for the Tudeh, the Soviet Union and irreligion'." (Ibid).

The result is well-known, and we need only linger to consider the crucial lesson from this. Neither the British nor the American governments could tolerate a democracy in the Middle East. What a disaster it would be if true democracy were to emerge in Saudi Arabia, and the Islamists were to form a devoutly anti-American government! What if the Iraqis allow themselves to be governed by Shi'ites who align with Iran or try to nationalise their oil supply? What if Iran's theocracy is kicked out only to be replaced by a leftist-nationalist government even more hostile to America (less willing to do those dodgy weapons deals with the Contras) and unwilling to privatise and liberalise their economy according to Dr IMF's prescriptions ?

When Bush crows about those Eye-rainians protesting for democracy, a figure from the darkness might whisper in his ear that democracy is a Greek word meaning literally the "rule" (Kratos) of the "people" (Demos), a concept that would put his minority Presidency in trouble and throw potential US interests in Iran into jeopardy for a few more decades at least.