1953 Iranian parliamentary dissolution referendum

Timeline

• 12 July: PM Mohammad Mosaddegh openly announced his intention to hold the referendum,{{Citation|last=Rahnema|first=Ali|authorlink=Ali Rahnema|year=2014|title=Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran: Thugs, Turncoats, Soldiers, and Spooks
• 14 July: The decision to hold the referendum was approved by the cabinet.
• 3 August: The referendum was held in Tehran.
• 10 August: The referendum was held in other cities.
• 13 August: The official results of the polls were declared by the interior ministry.
• 16 August: Mosaddegh officially announced the dissolution of the parliament.
• 19 August: The government was overthrown in a coup d'état.

Campaign

Controversy

The balloting was not secret and there were two separate voting booths, i.e. the opponents of Mossadegh had to cast their vote in a separate tent. Voters were required to give name, address and the number and place of issuance of his identity card. Critics pointed that the referendum had ignored the democratic demand for secret ballots.

Officials at the voting booth in favor of the motion reportedly did not check identity cards or stamp voter's hands to indicate having submitted a ballot, leading to accusations of voter fraud. Voters at the booth against the motion were presented with intimidating signs such as “Only Traitors Vote for Non-Dissolution.”{{Citation |last= Herter |first=Christian |title=IRAN: 99.93% Pure | publisher=TIME | publication-place=USA | volume=LXII

Rural areas were also excluded from the ballot, under the argument it would take too long to count the votes from remote areas.

Results

By city

Reactions

Domestic

• Ayatollah Kashani said taking part in such a referendum is haraam (religiously prohibited). However, Ayatollah Boroujerdi supported the referendum.
• Mohammad Reza Shah declared the results "fraudulant".

International

• United States: On 5 August 1953, the U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, speaking to a gathering of state governors in Seattle, criticized Mosaddegh for the decision and specified, that it had been supported by the communist party. An editorial published by The New York Times on 4 August characterized the exercise as "More fantastic and farcical than any ever held under Hitler or Stalin", and an effort by Mosaddegh "to make himself unchallenged dictator of the country".

References

References

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2. (2016). "The British Role in Iranian Domestic Politics (1951-1953)". Springer.
3. (2010). "Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited". Palgrave Macmillan.
4. Siavush Randjbar-Daemi. (2017). ""Down with the Monarchy": Iran's Republican Moment of August 1953". Iranian Studies.
5. Majd, Mohammad Gholi. (2000). "Resistance to the Shah: Landowners and Ulama in Iran". University Press of Florida.
6. Elton L. Daniel. (2012). "The History of Iran". ABC-CLIO.
7. Lovespecial, Kennett. (1953). "Mossadegh Gets 99.9% of the Vote In Iran Plebiscite on Majlis Ouster". The New York Times.
8. (2008). "Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979". Syracuse University Press.
9. Koch, Scott. (2017). "THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AND THE FALL OF IRANIAN PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED MOSSADEQ". Central Intelligence Agency.
10. Abrahamian, Ervand. (1982). "Iran Between Two Revolutions". Princeton University Press.
11. Mervyn Roberts. (2012). "Analysis of Radio Propaganda in the 1953 Iran Coup". Iranian Studies.
12. (2010). "Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited". Palgrave Macmillan.