Could the Original Sin have been the overthrow of Muhammed Mossadegh in 1953 by a CIA backed coup. So many dire consequences have followed since then, including what we are now witnessing.
Christopher de Bellaigue's Patriot of Persia is a biography of Mossadagh. He examines the life of Iran's first democratically elected leader in a free election.
Mossadegh wasn't just another politician — he was proof that a near despotic, oil-rich country could transform itself into a functioning parliamentary democracy on its own terms, which was anathema to the Western powers. His overthrow didn't just remove a man; it foreclosed a possibility. That's what makes 1953 feel like an original sin rather than just a foreign policy blunder. It likely foreclosed the possibility of democratic rule across West Asia.
Did the author take his title from the movie, The Prince of Persia. Or, is it from an older classical literary tradition of writers like Byron, Shelley and others who romanticized Persia as a noble, ancient civilization? I don't know, but the title is brilliant 👌
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