Referendum in Iran in 1953

Mohammad Mossadegh, 1951

The referendum in Iran in 1953 was the first referendum of Iran . Mohammad Mossadegh , then Prime Minister of Iran, called on August 3, 1953 for a referendum to let the people decide on the dissolution of parliament. He was in conflict with the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and parliament over the extension of his extended powers . The referendum seemed to him to be the right means of asserting his interests.

Result and consequences

	be right	%
Yes	2,043,389	99.94
No	1,207	0.06
invalid	4th	0.00
total	2,044,600	100%

The referendum, not provided for in the Iranian constitution, was criticized not only by Mossadegh's opponents, but also by friendly politicians. The regulations for a secret ballot were not complied with because the “yes votes” had to be cast in a different polling station than the “no votes”. This made it clear to everyone who wanted to vote “no”. Mossadegh supporters had also gathered in front of the polling stations for “no votes”, threatening voters who wanted to vote against the dissolution of parliament. Mossadegh said in a radio address after the referendum that the parliament had lost its legitimacy due to the result of the referendum. Mossadegh was hoping for an overwhelming majority in the upcoming elections. Kermit Roosevelt Jr. from the CIA and the US Ambassador Loy W. Henderson then "worked" the Shah to start Operation Ajax .

See also

• Political system of Iran before 1979

Remarks

1. ↑ The result of the approval of over 99% for the first referendum in the country is a tradition for election fraud in Iran up to modern times.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bahman Baktiari: Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran. University Press of Florida, Gainesville et al. 1996, ISBN 0-8130-1461-1 , p. 42.
2. ↑ With a population of 17.5 million, the number of eligible voters is estimated at 6 million. Women were not eligible to vote.
3. ↑ Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. The Men and Women who made modern Iran, 1941–1979. Volume 1. Syracus University Press et al., Syracuse NY et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-8156-0907-0 , p. 243.
4. ^ Gérard de Villiers : The Shah. The unstoppable ascent of Mohammed Reza Pahlewi (= Heyne books. No. 5268). Heyne, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-453-00632-1 , p. 272.