According to the retrospective, lawmakers and nationalist figures of the
period mounted growing opposition to the Anglo‑Iranian Oil Company and to
agreements viewed as extensions of British influence. The movement culminated
in March 1951, when both chambers of parliament approved legislation declaring
the oil industry nationalised across all regions of the country.
Shana traced the roots of the push to earlier contracts, including the 1901
D’Arcy concession and a revised 1933 agreement under Reza Shah. Mounting public
criticism of perceived inequities in those deals paved the way for the
political confrontation that unfolded during the 15th and 16th parliaments.
Efforts by Britain to pass a supplemental agreement on oil revenues through
parliament met stiff opposition, especially after prominent figures — including
Mohammad Mossadegh, Hossein Makki and Ayatollah Kashani — won seats in the 16th
legislature in 1950. Successive governments struggled to advance the deal amid
widening dissent.
Tensions sharpened during the premiership of Gen. Ali Razmara, who argued
that nationalisation was impractical. Members of the parliamentary Oil
Commission, including Mossadegh, rejected the government’s stance and pressed
for full state control of the industry. Razmara was assassinated in March 1951,
accelerating political momentum behind the nationalisation drive.
On March 20, 1951, parliament approved the nationalisation bill, and on May
1 the legislation was formally endorsed, ending the role of the Anglo‑Iranian
Oil Company in Iran. Britain protested the decision, and the dispute was taken
to international arbitration.
Shana’s account described the nationalisation as a turning point that
placed Iran’s oil sector under state authority and marked a defining moment in
the country’s modern political history.