born 1880, Tehrān, Ṣafavid Persia
died March 5, 1967, Tehrān, Iran
Iranian politician and nationalist leader.
After law school in Switzerland, he served in the government until Reza Khan became shah (1925). After Reza Shah was deposed in 1941, Mosaddeq was reelected to the parliament (1944). Following Mosaddeq's successful nationalization of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941–79) was virtually forced to appoint him premier (1951). Tension between the monarch and the premier crested, however, and the shah attempted to dismiss him in 1953. The resulting unrest forced the shah to flee the country until a coup, backed by British and U.S. intelligence services, drove Mosaddeq from power. Convicted of treason, he spent three years in prison and the rest of his life under house arrest.