Churchill and the Shah’s Messages (Aug. 1953)
| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | February 11, 2025 |
In an Aug. 25th message, British Premier Winston Churchill congratulated the
Shah of Iran on his successful return to Iran after
he hurriedly fled the country on
August 16, 1953.
The Shah had carried out the Anglo-American scheme to have Premier Mohammad Mossadegh dismissed by royal decree. When that went awry, the Shah scuttled off to
Iraq, then
Italy with Queen Soraya.
U.S. Amb. Loy Henderson, who had suggested the British note, presented it to the Shah on Aug. 28th. The Shah was reportedly “deeply moved”, and asked that his reply be privately transmitted.
• U.S. State Department Documents | IRAN
• British Foreign Office | IRAN
Premier Winston Churchill to the Shah of Iran
August 25, 1953 (presented Aug. 28)
I salute and congratulate Your Majesty on your safe return to your country. May I express the sincere hope that success will now attend your efforts to guide Persia towards those better things which you have always so ardently desired
for her.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s Reply to Churchill
August 28, 1953
I deeply appreciate your friendly message of congratulation and good wishes which fortify me in meeting the difficult tasks ahead. May I take this occasion to congratulate you on your return to active duty and to express my hope that
your health will continue to improve.
• Source: FRUS (below)
788.11/8–2553: Telegram
No. 356
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Aldrich) to the Department of State [Winsthrop W. Aldrich to State Dept.]
London, August 25, 1953—7 p.m.
SECRET
793. When I called on Salisbury this afternoon [Lord Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Salisbury] he handed me an aide-mémoire the text of which reads as follows:
“Her Majesty’s Government would be most grateful if the United States Ambassador in Tehran could be instructed to pass the following personal and private message to the Shah from Sir Winston Churchill:
‘“I salute and congratulate Your Majesty on your safe return to your country. May I express the sincere hope that success will now attend your efforts to guide Persia towards those better things which you have always so ardently desired for her’”.
ALDRICH
• Source: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Iran, 1951–1954, Volume X (1989). [Annotations by Arash Norouzi]
1 “Sent to Tehran as telegram 13 and repeated to the Department.
On Aug. 23 Ambassador Henderson suggested that it might be useful for Queen Elizabeth II or Prime Minister Churchill to send an oral message of congratulations to the Shah through American channels. (Telegram 462; 788.11/8–2353)
On Aug. 28 Ambassador Henderson reported that he read Churchill’s message to the Shah the previous evening. The Shah was deeply moved and asked Henderson to convey in confidence the following personal and private message in reply:
“I deeply appreciate your friendly message of congratulation and good wishes which fortify me in meeting the difficult tasks ahead. May I take this occasion to congratulate you on your return to active duty and to express my hope that
your health will continue to improve.” (Telegram 506; 788.11/8–2853)” — U.S. State Department Office of the Historian
Related links:
The Shah’s Post-Coup Rendezvous With Amb. Loy Henderson (Aug. 23, 1953)
Pres. Eisenhower and the Shah Trade Compliments After Iran Oil Deal | August 5, 1954
Fazlollah Zahedi & Winston Churchill’s Secret Messages After 1953 Coup in Iran
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
