Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC)

The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) was a British oil company with a monopoly over Iran's petroleum resources. Formed in 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (renamed in 1935), the AIOC was the central grievance of Iran's oil nationalisation movement. Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and the National Front led the drive to nationalise the company in 1951, ending British control. The AIOC appealed to the British government, triggering a British oil embargo against Iran and ultimately co-sponsoring with the CIA the 1953 Iranian coup d'état that overthrew Mossadegh. After the coup the AIOC was restructured into the British Petroleum Company (BP) and its Iranian assets were returned under a new consortium agreement. Hossein Makki was one of the leading nationalist figures who championed nationalisation in the Majlis.