The first royalist coup attempt begins

Royal Guard commander Nematollah Nasiri delivered the dismissal order and attempted to seize the prime minister, but loyal forces arrested him and the first coup attempt failed.

Officials loyal to the elected government secured key locations in Tehran. For later revolutionaries, this episode showed that royal authority depended on military and foreign support.

After the failed first coup attempt, the Shah left for Baghdad and then Rome. Crowds and political activists initially interpreted his departure as a victory for constitutional government.

Following the Shah’s flight, protesters removed royal statues and called for an end to monarchical intervention in government.

Royalist military units, paid organizers and street forces defeated the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh. Supporters of the 1979 Revolution later treated the coup as decisive evidence of Western...