Princess Ashraf Pahlavi - Involvement in 1953 Coup Against Mossadegh

Involvement in 1953 Coup Against Mossadegh

In 1953, Ashraf played an important role in Operation Ajax as the one who changed Mohammad Reza Shah's mind in giving consent to the CIA and SIS to start the operation. The Shah had originally opposed the operation and for a while resisted accepting it. In early 1953, she met with CIA agents who asked her to talk to her brother since she was the only one who was able to influence him. As historian Stephen Kinzer's book All the Shah's Men recounts, "Ashraf was enjoying life in French casinos and nightclubs when one of Roosevelt's best Iranian agents, Asadollah Rashidian, paid her a call. He found her reluctant, so the next day a delegation of American and British agents came to pose the invitation in stronger terms. The leader of the delegation, a senior British operative named Norman Darbyshire, had the foresight to bring a mink coat and a packet of cash. When Ashraf saw these emoluments, Darbyshire later recalled, "her eyes lit up and her resistance crumbled." By her own account, Pahlavi was offered a blank check if she agreed to return to Iran from her exile in France, but refused the money and returned of her own accord. Whether or not the allegations are true, some historians argue that the coup would have occurred with or without Ashraf’s persuasion of her brother. In an International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies article, writer Mark Gasironowski states that the Shah “was not consulted about the decision to undertake the coup, about its manner of execution, or about the candidate chosen to replace Mossadegh” and that the coup was instead largely executed by the United States and others looking to undermine Mossadegh’s leadership.