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dated December 23, 1953: Mossadeq Sentenced to Solitary Confinement

On the night of the 21st in Teheran, Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq, former Prime Minister, was sentenced to three years' solitary confinement. His former Chief of Staff, General Tahi Riahi, got two years' imprisonment. Dr. Mossadeq was accused of defying the Shah's order to resign and of trying to overthrow the Iranian regime by dissolving Parliament. He was arrested on August 20, four days after Marshal Fazlollah Zahedi seized power. His trial began on November 8. Brigadier Riahi was charged with trying to overthrow the Shah. The verdict said Dr. Mossadeq had tried to overthrow the monarchy, punishment for which was death, but because the Shah had forgiven him, because he was over 70, and had spent most of his life serving the Iranians, the Court reduced the punishment. Mossadeq (his name meaning "tried, tested, found worthy") was labelled as `traitor' `rebel' and `comic', by Prosecutor Brigadier Hussein Azemoudeh who added that the jibes of the 74-year-old politician were funnier than Charlie Chaplin... '' Several times since Dr. Mossadeq first appeared in grey flannel pyjamas and a grey dressing gown, he pleaded weakness, ill-health — often gasping for breath and sipping medicine, "I will be dead in three days."

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