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This challenge is inspired by General Finley's interesting thread on a Communist Iran and McCarthyism.

This is a broader discussion of the range of plausible PoDs that might lead to a Communist Iran.

The restriction on the scenario is that the PoD must be in 1947 or later. In this way, the Iranian Communists piggybacking to power based on the WWII era Soviet occupation is not an option.

To kick off the bidding, I will quote Finley's 1953 PoD:

"I'm doing some work on a TL idea that I've had batting around in my head for a while. The idea is that Tehran police chief Mahmoud Afshartous isn't assassinated and in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt against the PM he is in charge of regulating the rioting Tudeh forces. In OTL the man in charge subduing the protesters was an avowed monarchist who used the opportunity to brutalize the Communists and Pro-Mossadegh forces. Mahmoud Afshartous was far more wary of the Americans than Mossadegh, who had called on the crackdown against Tudeh rioters because of the Americans complaining about them, so the Tudeh forces aren't demobilized. Kermit Roosevelt and his cohorts manage to kill Afshartous when they launch their next coup attempt, but with the 8,000 Tudeh supporter in Tehran and the TPMO still mobilized and ready to fight causing the second coup attempt to be far more chaotic. With the situation even more chaotic than OTL as a result of the melee, the TPMO launches their own coup attempt, secretly arrests Mossadegh claiming that he was injured in the pro-Shah coup attempt and arrests many of the pro-America/pro-monarchist coup leaders."

-----What other ideas would *you* suggest?
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