ABSTRACT
Muhammad Mussadiq, who served as Iran's prime minister from April 1951 until August 1953, is revered by almost all secular democratic Iranians and admired even by many supporters of the former monarchy and the current Islamic regime. At the start of the Mussadiq era the United States had a very positive image in Iran, created by the small group of US teachers, missionaries, archaeologists, and administrators who had ventured there and by the commitment to freedom, democracy, and independence espoused by the US government and most Americans. This chapter examines US policy toward Iran during the Mussadiq era. It focuses particularly on the strategic considerations that led US officials to change from a policy of supporting Mussadiq to one of opposing and eventually overthrowing him, thus engendering the malevolent image many Iranians still have of the United States.
