Every deputy in the Majlis, save one or two, rose like automatons last week and voted to make Mohammed Mossadegh dictator of Iran for the next six months. Unchecked and unquestioned, he would control virtually every facet of national life from the press to the treasury to the military. Demonstrating what happens to those who defy Mossadegh, the Majlis voted to confiscate the $16 million fortune of his principal opponent, ex-Premier Ahmed Qavam (now a fugitive), leaving Qavam’s wife & child $160,000. Teheran’s airport was crowded with Mossadegh adversaries rushing off for “medical attention” in Europe. Among them: the Shah’s twin sister Princess Ashraf, the president of the Majlis, the former army chief of staff.
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