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freediverx01 t1_j06ly5n wrote

Reply to comment by SsurebreC in Iran execution: Man publicly hanged from crane amid protests by eskimo_e63

Have you seen photos of Iran before the Shah? They had a modern prosperous culture.

Iran democratically elected their own leader, only for the CIA to overthrow him in a matter of days to replace him with the Shah.

America doesn’t give a fuck about democracy. It only cares about preserving its power and corporate profits.

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SsurebreC t1_j06no88 wrote

I've seen photos of Iran and it was gorgeous. China is also beautiful. So is Jordan and Egypt. It depends on where you look specifically considering vast majority of the planet is poor - including Iran even back then. Gorgeous architecture and a reasonably well-dressed population doesn't mean what I said didn't happen. More info...

I'm certainly not defending the current crop of religious wingnuts ruling the country with an iron fist but they simply replaced an unelected dictator which goes back to a long line of other unelected dictators going back to the BC era.

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freediverx01 t1_j06nvvi wrote

Why does everyone keep missing my central point which is that Iran held democratic elections, and elected their own leader only for the CIA to come in and overthrow him because he was a threat to American oil companies. And that’s what led to the subsequent revolution by Muslim clerics who rule the country with an iron fist today.

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SsurebreC t1_j06pbgu wrote

Oh sorry, I was focused on the "Iran was fine" bit that you started with. Iran was not fine (as far as being free). Iran had a dictator - an unelected king (aka Shah) at the time. Mohammad Mosaddegh was just the prime minister. The Shah was still in charge of Iran and personally appointed those who elected prime ministers.

CIA simply removed the Prime Minister.

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Embarrassed-Tiger-27 t1_j08du6b wrote

I would hardly call the 1952 election in Iran a free election. The prime Minister manipulated the results to prevent rural voters (the same people that formed the backbone of the theocracy) from gaining their rightful seats in government.

Additionally seizing foriegn assets with no compensation or negotiation is a shitty and stupid move. The oil assets were already jointly owned under a deal with his predecessor, simply going taksy backsy over a legitimate deal is how you become an international pariah.

Does that mean the Shah was good for the country no, but he was hardly some perfect innocent victim who did no wrong.

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