Did a Coup Happen on August 19th or Not?

For about four years, since I started working on the online radio series "Fall" until this year when the book "Fall" was published to examine the events of August 19, I have occasionally faced this question. The answer to this question is of extraordinary importance to some, akin to "Are you a Muslim or not?", "Do you believe in God or not?", "Do you agree with gender equality or not?", "Do you believe in freedom of speech or not?", "Do you believe in democracy or not?" August 19 can play a role in the most fundamental beliefs in delineations. "Coup" or any name other than "coup" is also a significant dividing factor regarding the fate of Mohammad Mossadegh's government. Even one of the prominent Iranian professors, when faced with my request for an interview for this series, asked me first whether I would call what happened a "coup" or not. He ultimately declined the interview for other reasons, but it was clear that calling what happened a coup was of special importance to him. This discussion starts from the minutiae of the events from August 25 to 28 and continues to sometimes tedious generalizations like defining "coup". Like many other divides in Iranian society, August 19 also has passionate supporters and opponents whose discussions sometimes mix with great fervor, taking on the flavor of a fresh political clash. It seems as if today, by sunset, Mohammad Mossadegh's house is about to be buried in dust! Among all those who ask this question, not everyone is necessarily seeking political delineation. Some – and they are not few – sincerely want to find an answer to one of their historical questions in less than a minute. The question is: Who is right? If a coup happened, why do some say it didn't? What do those who say it didn't happen mean? Could it be that a coup really didn't happen? If it didn't happen, then what did? These questions, no matter how simple and repetitive they may seem, are still valid questions that need answers, especially since there is no news of teaching credible history in the Iranian educational system, and all historical truths have taken on a form shaped by the hammer of the ruling ideology, serving the rulers rather than the truth of what happened. Four years ago, when I started preparing materials about Mohammad Mossadegh and his premiership, I was determined to provide straightforward and clear answers to all these questions. Ultimately, I produced a radio series that aired weekly on Radio Farda for a year, and the book "Fall" was published this year. Yet, occasionally someone still asks: Did a coup happen on August 19 or not? Yes or no? It seems that after four years of study, I am supposed to graduate with this very question. It feels as if I must show with a "yes" or "no" that I have reached a revealed and exclusive truth and that I have done my job correctly. However, I confess that this question feels like a bottomless pit that I have no interest in falling into. After dozens of hours of interviews with dozens of witnesses, observers, actors, university professors, historians, writers, and informed researchers about this issue, and writing dozens of pages of material and checking the minutest historical facts of what happened with various sources, this question seems to me more like a prominent margin that has overshadowed a large part of the main text, making much more critical points appear less significant. Whether it was a "coup" or not, what happened on August 19 was not a moment of victory for anyone that could be proven by a political description of its historical legitimacy. August 19 is the day of "Fall"; the fall of all. Whether there was a "coup" or not, what the dispute is about, what significant events occurred during those years, and who the main characters of this historical event were, are all questions whose answers can be found in the book "Fall". You can download the PDF version of the book on Radio Farda's Telegram. In this context, an interview by Keyvan Hosseini with Abbas Milani; what has been revealed about Ayatollah Kashani in new documents? When all the photos are on the table.