Assadollah Rashidian (Persian: اسدالله رشیدیان) was an Iranian businessman and anglophile who, along with his brothers, played a critical role in the 1953 overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.[2] He was a principal covert agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and through him the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was able to convince the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, to endorse the operation (codenamed Operation Ajax).
Assadollah Rashidian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament of Iran | |
| In office 22 February 1961 – 9 May 1961 | |
| Constituency | Tehran |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1919 Tehran, Iran[1] |
| Died | 1980 (aged 61) London, United Kingdom[1] |
| Political party | National Will Party (1943–1951) |
Rashidian's main contributions to the operation were his encouragement of the Shah's sister, Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, to obtain her brother's approval of the plan, and acting as a liaison between the SIS/CIA team and the Shah once the operation was underway. On 13 October 1952 the government issued arrest warrants for Assadollah Rashidian, his brother, Abdol Hossein Hejazi, and others.[3] They were soon released.[4]