ABSTRACT
Energy has dominated the relationship between Iran and the West even before the nationalization of British oil facilities by Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in May 1951. Riding on a potent nationalistic wave, Mossadegh tried forcefully to impose his views, with no readiness to compromise. He met strong British and international opposition, and then domestic opposition grew as he abused emergency powers granted to him by the parliament. In 1953, the US and the UK engineered a coup that deposed Mossadegh and the Shah returned to power; he negotiated a mutually acceptable agreement with the West and started to modernize Iran through education and industrialization, while repressing political opponents and building up a strong military establishment supplied by the United States of America.
