Global Oil and Pahlavi Politics: The Shah and the Consortium, 1954-1963

Oil formed a crucial foundation for the Pahlavi government, particularly after the Mordad Coup and subsequent Consortium Agreement, which overturned nationalization and placed control over Iran's oil in the hands of a group of international oil companies. While a considerable body of scholarship exists on the important role of the Anglo-Iranian Company in the years before nationalization, the shah's complex relationship with the Consortium has remained relatively under-explored.