The Iranian Oil Crisis and Mossadegh in the Cold War, 1949-1953

In the early 1950s, Iranian oil became a firebomb of the Cold War in the Middle East, creating one of the era's two major hot spots alongside Korea.This book examines the dramatic events surrounding Mohammad Mossadegh whose government unanimously passed legislation nationalizing the Iranian oil industry, triggering the first oil crisis of the Cold War.Drawing on newly declassified archival documents from the former Soviet Union, CIA, British special services, and Turkish diplomatic archives, the volume highlights the fierce struggle between the USSR and Anglo-American allies for the influence of Iran. The book chronicles Mossadegh's rise to power, his stance against Western interests, and the complex Cold War machinations that ultimately led to his government's overthrow in August 1953.The Iranian Oil Crisis and Mossadegh in the Cold War, 1949–1953 will be beneficial to students and scholars in the fields of History, International Relations, Cold War History, Political Science and Humanities interested in and/or working on İran History.

About the Author

Jamil Hasanli is Senior Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (SAS) of the University of London. He was a History and Public Policy Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center in 2011 and 2020. He received the 2015 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Between 2016 and 2017, he was a scholar at the Cold War Center at East China Normal University in Shanghai. From October 2019 until February 2020, he was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow of the National Endowment for Democracy (Washington, DC). From January 2021 to January 2023 he was a visiting fellow of the Institute of Historical Research (SAS) of the University of London. He is an Honorary Member of the Turkish Historical Society and a member of the American Historical Association. He was a member of the international editorial board of the collection of documents "The Prague Spring and the International Crisis of 1968" in Vienna in 2008.