Although a strong desire to be in government affairs, Mohammad Reza relied more on manipulation than on leadership. He concentrated on reviving the army and ensuring that it would remain under his control as the monarchy's main power. In 1949 an assassination attempt on the Shah by the pro-Soviet Tudeh Party, resulted in the banning of the Tudehs and the expansion of the Shah's powers. .
Throughout his political career, Mossadegh supported three goals. The first was to free Iran of foreign intervention, the second, to ensure that the Shah remained a democratic monarch and not a dictator, and third, to implement social reforms. He believed ending foreign interference was a necessity to have success in the other areas of economics, and he was convinced that as long as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company controlled Iran's most important natural resource, foreign influence was inevitable. Beginning in 1945 Mossadegh led a successful campaign to deny the Soviet Union an oil concession in northern Iran. Although he resisted joining political parties, Mossadegh agreed in 1949 to head the National Front, a group of several parties that supported oil nationalization. Within a year the National Front had members in cities and towns throughout the country and had perfected the organizing mass political rallies.
Conservative political groups, backed by the shah, opposed nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company because they believed it would break relations with Britain and they also distrusted Mossadegh's popularity. However, as the nationalization movement grew, fewer politicians openly challenged Mossadegh on the oil issue in fear of losing their positions. In an effort to stall nationalization, the Shah appointed military officer Ali Razmara as prime minister in 1950. This increased the scale of demonstrations in favor of nationalization and against a government that was accused as being a puppet of foreign interests.