Career
He rose to prominence during the national struggle against British control of Iran"s oil industry. Foreign decades, most Iranians had resented the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (51% of which was under the control of the British government) for the perceived injustice of allocating most profits to the company and the British government, while only a very small proportion was given to Iran, despite the fact that the oil fields were on Iranian territory. Baghai made himself known as a fiery critic of the British and he allied himself with those of like mind, including Doctor Mohammad Mossadegh (a man who had risen to prominence as a fierce critic of Reza Shah, the despotic ruler of Iran from 1921–1941, and of the British control of the oil fields and that country"s interference in Iran"s internal affairs).
He was different from many other nationalists in that he held very left-wing (albeit anti-communist) views.
In April 1951, one month after the oil industry was nationalized by the Majlis, Mossadegh was chosen by that elected body as the Prime Minister of Iran, subject to approval by the reigning Mohammad Reza Shah (who had succeeded his father as Shah of Iran in September 1941). Until 1952, Baghai stood by Mossadegh in his struggle against the United Kingdom and his intensifying dispute in Iran with the pro-Shah elements, who had opposed Mossadegh"s style of governing and his policies vis-a-vis the United Kingdom. From 1952 to 1953, Bagai served in the seventeenth Majlis, from which he initially used to support Mossadegh"s government.
In taking this course, he split with Khalil Maleki, who remained loyal to Mossadegh and formed his own group called the Third Force. On August 19 1953 (28 Mordad 1332 in the Iranian calendar) the Central Intelligence Agency and MI6 sponsored a coup d"etat against Mossadegh which succeeded in toppling his government and restoring the absolute monarchy to Iran.
Due to his role in bringing down Mossadegh, Baghai was forever shunned by the ex-premier"s colleagues and the Iranian public (most of whom had remained sympathetic to Mossadegh and his role in fighting imperialism abroad and despotism at home).
