ABSTRACT
The Oil Nationalization Movement of 1951-53 was a most significant episode in modern Iranian history. Although nationalization of a foreign oil company was not without precedent (Mexico had nationalized its oil concerns in 1938), Iran’s takeover of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company immediately precipitated an international crisis. Subsequent events-tacit approval of this nationalization by the International Court in the Hague, Britain’s economic boycott of Iran, and the eventual downfall of Iranian Premier Mossadegh-profoundly affected future developments both in Iran and in the international oil market.1
