Who they were
Mohammad Mosaddegh (1882–1967) was a European-educated lawyer, with a doctorate in law from Neuchâtel, and a veteran parliamentarian of Iran’s constitutional era, known by reputation for personal probity and theatrical oratory. He led the National Front coalition.
What they did
As the driving force in the Majlis, he secured the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in March 1951 and became prime minister that April on that mandate. Facing a British embargo and blockade of Iranian oil, he took Iran’s case to the International Court of Justice and the United Nations; the Hague court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction, a point for Iran. Time magazine named him its Man of the Year for 1951. At home he pursued social and electoral reforms, but amid the crisis and splits with former allies — including the clerical politician Kashani — he increasingly ruled by emergency powers.
Legacy
He was overthrown in the coup of August 1953, tried by a military court, sentenced to three years in prison, and then held under house arrest at Ahmadabad until his death in 1967. For many Iranians he remains the symbol of democratic and national aspiration cut short by foreign intervention; assessments of the methods of his final year in office vary.