The consolidation of the coup; the day after the fall of Mossadegh's government.

August 20, 1953, was the first full day after the fall of Mohammad Mossadegh's government. The coup d'état of August 19, carried out with the intervention and covert operations of Britain and the United States and the cooperation of domestic political and military forces, led to the fall of Mossadegh's government on August 19. Fazlollah Zahedi took power, and Mossadegh and a number of his associates were arrested. The Shah, who had fled Iran after the failure of the first attempt to execute the coup, was still not in the country and returned to Tehran a few days later, on August 22. But August 20 was important in that the coup was no longer just a street operation; it was turning into a new government.

Diplomatic reports from that same day show that Zahedi was consolidating his position and selecting cabinet members. Simultaneously, orders were issued for the arrest of leaders of the National Front, and Mossadegh and a number of his associates were transferred to the Officers' Club.

Also, officers who had followed Mossadegh's orders the day before were arrested. In fact, August 20 can be considered the beginning of a phase in which a street victory turned into political suppression and consolidation of power. Another important point is that one should not imagine that Hossein Fatemi was executed on August 20, or even sentenced to death on that same day. Fatemi was later arrested and tried, and was eventually executed during Zahedi's government. So the more accurate narrative is: August 19 was the fall; August 20 was the consolidation of the consequences of the fall.