Political analyst underlines importance of Iranians' unity against hegemonic powers

A senior Iranian political analyst and university professor, Mohammad Marandi, stressed the necessity for the Iranian people to strengthen their unity and solidarity against the plots hatched by the hegemonic powers against the country. “I think people know that unity now is very important for the country so that again divisions won’t allow Western hegemonic powers to take advantage of the situation,” Marandi told press TV on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the nationalization of the oil industry in Iran. He said the 1953 coup against the government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq stemmed from “divisions” between the ruling regime and the people. The academic also stated that lessons need to be learned from the past mistakes. “The Iranian government at that time, the national government, was naïve about the American role, and the Iranian prime minister at that time was too trustful of the United States, and that trust led to basically the overthrow of the national government,” said Marandi. On March 20, 1951, members of the Iranian parliament passed a bill introduced by then Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq on the nationalization of the oil industry. Some scholars believe that nationalization of Iran’s oil industry was the main reason behind the 1953 joint CIA-MI6-sponsored coup d'état, codenamed Operation Ajax, which overthrew Mosaddeq. Last August, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) published for the first time a document confirming Washington’s role in the 1953 coup against the government of Mosaddeq. The coup saw the formation of an absolute US-backed monarchy under Iran's last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.