3 - Parliamentary Politics

Summary

The 1906 Constitutional Revolution had tried to create a parliamentary form of government with the monarch as titular figurehead. Reza Shah, however, in 1925–41, had reduced parliament to a rubber stamp. Mossadeq, in addition to nationalizing the oil industry, tried to reassert parliamentary authority and civilian control over the armed forces. This brought him in conflict with Mohammad Reza Shah. Thus the oil crisis and the constitutional crisis became interwoven paving the way to the coup.