The first hearing of a lawsuit filed 71 years later against the United States for its role in the 1953 coup that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh was held.
Mahmoud Mossadegh, Mossadegh's grandson, attended the first hearing of the case at the 55th International Civil Court in Tehran.
402 THOUSAND IRANIAN CITIZENS ARE INVOLVED
Speaking at the beginning of the hearing, court judge Majid Hosseinzadeh said that approximately 402,000 Iranian citizens from more than 20 states across the country are involved in the lawsuit against the US government and 6 American officials.
Shami Akdem, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, then took the stand and said, “Intelligence documents and existing documents show that the CIA, in cooperation with British intelligence services, planned a comprehensive coup against the legitimate government of Iran on August 19, 1953, using internal and external agents. The main goal of the United States in this coup was to turn Britain's influence in Iran in its favor.”
MATERIAL, MORAL AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES
The Iranian lawyer stated that they are asking the court to award financial, moral and punitive damages against the United States in order to compensate for the damage suffered by Iranian citizens as a result of the coup.
Mahmoud Mossadegh, who was also present at the hearing, said that he had witnessed his grandfather's struggle to nationalize oil.
Mossadegh asked the court to award pecuniary, non-pecuniary and punitive damages against the United States for the huge losses caused by the elimination of the legitimate Iranian government and the looting of the country's resources.
The hearing will continue in the coming days.
“OPERATION AJAX”
On August 19, 1953, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who led the movement for the nationalization of Iranian oil, was overthrown in a coup d'état organized by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and dubbed “Operation Ajax”.
In state archives declassified by the CIA in 2013, evidence of the role of the US and Britain in this coup was made public for the first time. “The military coup was carried out under the direction of the CIA as part of US foreign policy,” one of the documents stated.
