HISTORYAT A GLANCE |
THE POST-MOSSADEQ ERA
AND THE SHAH'S WHITE REVOLUTION(Part 1.)
To help the Zahedi government through a difficult period, the United States
arranged for immediate economic assistance of US$45 million. The Iranian
government restored diplomatic relations with Britain in December 1953, and a
new oil agreement was concluded in the following year. The shah, fearing both
Soviet influence and internal opposition, sought to bolster his regime by edging
closer to Britain and the United States. In 0ctober 1955, Iran joined the
Baghdad Pact, which brought together the "northern tier" countries of Iraq,
Turkey, and Pakistan in an alliance that included Britain, with the United
States serving as a supporter of the pact but not a full member. (The pact was
renamed the Central Treaty Organization -- CENTO -- after Iraq's withdrawal in
1958.) In March 1959, Iran signed a bilateral Attempts at economic development and political reform were inadequate. Rising
oil revenues allowed the government to launch the Second Development Plan
(1955-62) in 1956. A number of large-scale industrial and agricultural projects
were initiated, but economic recovery from the disruptions of the oil
nationalization period was slow. The infusion of oil money led to rapid
inflation and spreading discontent, and strict controls provided no outlets for
political unrest. When martial law, which had been instituted in August 1953
after the coup, ended in 1957, the shah ordered two of his senior officials to
form a majority party and a loyal Yielding both to domestic demands for change and to pressure for reform from
President John F. Kennedy's administration, the shah named Ali Amini, a wealthy
landlord and senior civil servant, as prime minister. Amini was known as an
advocate of reform. He received a mandate from the shah to dissolve parliament
and rule for six months by cabinet decree. Amini loosened controls on the press,
permitted the National Front and other political parties to resume activity, and
ordered the arrest of a number of former senior officials on charges of
corruption. Under Amini, the cabinet approved the Third Development Plan
(1962-68) and undertook a program to reorganize the civil service. In January
1962, in the single most important measure of the fourteen-month Amini
government, the cabinet approved a law for land distribution.
defense agreement with the
United States. In the Cold War atmosphere, relations with the Soviet Union were
correct but not cordial. The shah visited the Soviet Union in 1956, but Soviet
propaganda attacks and Iran's alliance with the West continued. Internally, a
period of political repression followed the overthrow of Mossadeq, as the shah
concentrated power in his own hands. He banned or suppressed the Tudeh, the
National Front, and other parties; muzzled the press; and
strengthened the
secret police, SAVAK (Sazman-e Ettelaat va Amniyat-e Keshvar). Elections to the
Majlis in 1954 and 1956 were closely controlled. The shah appointed Hosain Ala
to replace Zahedi as prime minister in April 1955 and thereafter named a
succession of prime ministers who were willing to do his bidding.
opposition as the basis for a two-party
system. These became known as the Melliyun and the Mardom parties. These
officially sanctioned parties did not satisfy demands for wider political
representation, however. During Majlis elections in 1960, contested primarily by
the Melliyun and the Mardom parties, charges of widespread fraud could not be
suppressed, and the shah was forced to cancel the elections. Jafar Sharif-Emami,
a staunch loyalist, became prime minister. After renewed and more strictly
controlled elections, the Majlis convened in February 1961. But as economic
conditions worsened and political unrest grew, the Sharif-Emami government fell
in May 1961.
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