March 20 is the day of nationalization of oil industry in Iran. To understand the significance of this day, let us take a short trip to several decades back.
The discoverers of oil knew well that oil could guarantee their economic and industrial dominance over the world for years and decades. Industrial countries had realized that to keep the wheels of industry moving, they needed oil exigently. This current, indeed, set up the foundation of oil colonialism whose documents can be seen in the museums of oil history in oil-producing countries like Iran. These documents include various exploitative contracts related to extraction, production and sale of crude.
The Iranian government, concurrent with discovery of oil in the country, concluded a contract with Baron Julius Reuter, whereby the concession of exploiting oil fields of Iran was granted for 70 years to a German born British entrepreneur called, Baron Julius de Reuter (Israel Beer Josaphat). According to article 11 of the contract, the concession of oil was considered as that of coal, iron, copper and lead. 32 years later, in 1902, another contract was signed by then Iranian government that granted the concession of exploration, extraction, exploitation and sale of oil all over the country, except the 5 northern areas, to a British named William Knox D'Arcy for 60 years. This trend of dominance, infiltration and plunder finally led to social protests across the country which resulted in post-September 1941 events. The international conditions developed in a way that different countries like Russia, Britain and the US were seeking to gain oil concessions from Iran's government through offering pompous proposals. Since Britain had already gained the concession of exploiting oil resources in the south of the country, Russians were seeking to attain the concession of the north while the Americans, too, were intended to get their concessions in the imbroglio of those days.
In that fateful juncture of Iran's history, religious and political figures like Ayatollah Seyyed Abul Qasem Kashani and Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq exposed the role of colonialists in looting Iran's oil. Fatemeh Amini, an expert of the history of the Islamic Revolution, says, "Historical documents of the era show that Ayatollah Kashani played an important and unique role in the struggles for nationalization of oil industry and he has a great right on the Iranian nation as he set the ground for freedom of God-given energy sources in Iran."
Ayatollah Kashani rose up against the incompetent government and opposed the ratifications of the Majlis in conclusion of oil contracts with colonialist powers, especially Britain. He even wrote a letter to the UN.
In a strong protest to the measures of the British oil company, Ayatollah Kashani issued a statement along with a number of lawmakers to annul the contract with the British consortium. But the puppet regime, at the behest of his masters in London, arrested Ayatollah Kashani and sent him to exile.
Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, inspired by Ayatollah Kashani's struggles and supported by the people, would often stress that Iranians should administer and exploit their own oil resources. Finally, Iran's oil industry was nationalized in 1951 and Mosaddeq's government, in spite of plots and obstructionism, decided to execute the law as of April 1951. One of these plots was to sanction Iran's oil in the first half of 1951 to destabilize the country politically and economically.
The British-American coup in August 1953 against the government of Mosaddeq was another plot hatched by the enemies of the Iranian nation. After the coup, different oil giants such as British Petroleum, Shell, Gulf Oil Corporation, Texaco entered the arena of pillaging Iran's oil and formation of a new consortium. With the start of the consortium's work, the activities of Iranian government and the Iranian National Oil Company were limited. The members of the consortium would decide on the rate of production and price of oil without the interference of the Iranian government as the main factor which had to determine the revenues of the country.
Such was the fate of the Iranian oil till the victory of the Islamic Revolution which cut the hands of the plunderers from the resources of the country. Dependence on oil has always been used as a tool by big powers to pressure Iran, especially after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. That's why the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, stressed that this dependence is the sinister legacy of hundred years for us.
The dependence on crude revenues has many negative effects on the economy of oil-producing countries. In view of this, the Leader determined the policies of the Resistance Economy to set the Iranian economy free from the crude sale and its repercussions.
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