The beginning of the August 19 coup; the night the coup started and history changed.

On the night of August 15, 1953, the first phase of the coup planned by the United States and Britain was put into action in Iran.

A number of ministers of Mohammad Mossadegh's cabinet were arrested in a nighttime operation.

This action was a prelude to the fall of Mossadegh's government on August 19; but August 15 itself was a point at which the law officially met force. Mossadegh, who until that day had stood against the pressures of the court and foreigners relying on the constitution and the parliament, now faced the naked reality of power: when the law alone is not enough, and power makes the final decision.