Gholamreza Takhti: Olympic Gold-Medalist wrestler

Takhti was also politically conscious. He backed the oil nationalization movement of 1951-53, and was an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Mosaddegh. After the CIA-sponsored coup of 1953 that overthrew the Mosaddegh government, Takhti was said to be very depressed and did not want to appear in public. In the summer of 1961, after he returned from Yokohama as world champion, he announced his membership in the Second National Front, which supported Mosaddegh.