Nojeh Coup
Encyclopedia
The Nojeh coup was an attempt to overthrow the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran, and the government of Abolhassan Banisadr
Abolhassan Banisadr
Abulhassan Banisadr is an Iranian politician, economist and human rights activist who served as the first President of Iran from 4 February 1980 after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy until his impeachment on 21 June 1981 by the Parliament of Iran...

 and Ayatollah Khomeini that occurred on July 11, 1980. It was staged by officers and servicemen from the infantry, air force, army and secret service under the leadership of the former imperial prime minister, Shapour Bakhtiar
Shapour Bakhtiar
Shapour Bakhtiar was an Iranian political scientist, writer and the last Prime Minister of Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi...

, who had been operating from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 since Khomeini took power in Iran.

External Involvement

The United States of America were also involved in the plan, with Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....

, the national security advisor to the Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 Administration from 1977 to 1981, meeting regularly with all the parties involved.

Saddam Hussein was interested in the coup, despite opposing Islamic fundamentalism, as a response to attempts of the Iranian government to stir up Shi'a opposition against Saddam's Ba'ath party and the attempted assassination of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a close advisor of former President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party...

 at Mustansiriya University which resulted in the death of 11 Iraqi students.

Controversy

There is speculation in some reports that the financing for the coup came from Iraq and Saddam Hussein's regime. However, this article also alludes to the idea that the Iraqi government alerted the Iranian leaders to the attempted coup. In doing so many of the best pilots and military commanders in Iran were taken out of service, thereby weakening the Iranian forces before the Iraqi invasion two months later.

External links

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