Government of Shapour Bakhtiar

Last updated
Government of Shapour Bakhtiar
State flag of the Imperial State of Iran (with standardized lion and sun).svg
cabinet of Iran
Shapour Bakhtiar Cabinet.jpg
Date formed5 January 1979 (1979-01-05)
Date dissolved11 February 1979 (1979-02-11)
People and organisations
Head of state Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Head of government Shapour Bakhtiar
Opposition cabinet Interim Government of Iran (5 February - 12 February)
History
Legislature term(s) 24th Iranian Majlis
Predecessor Military government of Gholam-Reza Azhari
Successor Interim Government of Iran

The government of Shapour Bakhtiar is the last government during the Pahlavi dynasty that ended with the Islamic Revolution. The head of this 37-day government, Shapour Bakhtiar, was one of the leaders of the National Front of Iran. The National Front of Iran had announced in a statement on December 29, 1978 that if Bakhtiar accepted the post of Prime Minister of Iran, he would be expelled from the National Front. The day after the Prime Minister was received, his dismissal was voted on at a meeting of the Central Council, and his dismissal was decided by an overwhelming majority.

Contents

Background of government formation

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whose government was in decline, was looking for someone to agree to leave Iran on acceptable and confidential terms. To this end, he first met with Ahmad Bani Ahmad and Karim Sanjabi and asked them to accept the Prime Minister of the government. Citing a three-point declaration and opposing the army remaining in the royal family and the Shah refusing to step down as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Sanjabi refused to accept a compromise with the Shah. [1] [2]

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi then met with Muzaffar Baghaei and Gholam Hossein Sedighi, other leaders of the National Front, and offered to take over the government, but each of them refused to accept the government for some reason. The Shah's offer to the Prime Minister to Siddiqui and Baqaei failed because they both made the acceptance of the Shah's offer conditional on Mohammad Reza Pahlavi remaining in Iran but not in Tehran. The two argued that the Shah's personal presence in Iran, because of his close ties to the army, maintained the unity and cohesion of the army. [3]

Bakhtiar, a member of the Central Council of the National Front, presented the seven conditions (the Shah should leave the country and pledge to reign from now on and not the government, the choice of ministers is unique, SAVAK to be dissolved (deportation of 14 soldiers) Stubbornly, including Gholam-Ali Oveissi), political prisoners should be released, conditions for press freedom should be provided, the Pahlavi Foundation should be transferred to the government, and the imperial commission interfering in all matters should be removed) and agreed to head a civilian government. The Shah accepted all of his terms and appointed him Prime Minister. [4]

Bakhtiar introduced his government and its plan to the parliament on December 11, 1978. On December 17, 1978, Bakhtiar and his ministers received a vote of confidence from the parliament with 149 votes in favor, 43 against and 13 abstentions. [5] Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife Farah Pahlavi left the country on 17 January 1979. [6]

Cabinet

Members of Bakhtiar's cabinet were as follows:

PortfolioMinisterTookofficeLeftofficeParty
Prime Minister 6 January 197911 February 1979  Iran Party
Minister of Foreign Affairs 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Interior 5 January 197911 February 1979  Iran Party
Minister of Housing 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Agriculture 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of War 5 January 197911 February 1979  Military
Minister of Health 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Education 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Justice 5 January 197927 January 1979  Nonpartisan
Shamsoddin Alemi
27 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Information and Tourism 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Commerce 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Advisory Minister
Advisory Minister5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Vice Prime Ministers
Deputy Prime Minister 5 January 197910 February 1979  Nonpartisan
10 February 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
Director of the SAVAK 5 January 197911 February 1979  Military
President of the Atomic Energy Organization 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
President of the Department of Environment 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan
President of the Physical Education Organization 5 January 197911 February 1979  Military
Secretary-General of the ARAO 5 January 197911 February 1979  Nonpartisan

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masjed Soleyman</span> City in Khuzestan, Iran

Masjed Soleyman is a city and capital of Masjed Soleyman County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 206,121, in 51,530 families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister of Iran</span> Former political post in Iran

The Prime Minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution before being abolished in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teymur Bakhtiar</span> Iranian military officer and politician (1914–1970)

Teymur Bakhtiar was an Iranian general and the founder and head of SAVAK from 1956 to 1961 when he was dismissed by the Shah. In 1970, SAVAK agents assassinated him in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Front (Iran)</span> Opposition political party in Iran

The National Front of Iran is an opposition political organization in Iran, founded by Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1949. It is the oldest and arguably the largest pro-democracy group operating inside Iran despite having never been able to recover the prominence it had in the early 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nematollah Nassiri</span> Iranian army officer

Nematollah Nassiri was the director of SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency during the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and later the Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan. He was one of the 438 individuals who were arrested and executed in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shapour Bakhtiar</span> Iranian politician

Shapour Bakhtiar was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the words of historian Abbas Milani: "more than once in the tone of a jeremiad he reminded the nation of the dangers of clerical despotism, and of how the fascism of the mullahs would be darker than any military junta". In 1991, he and his secretary were murdered in his home in Suresnes, France, by agents of the Islamic Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Ali Foroughi</span> Iranian diplomat and politlcian

Mohammad Ali Foroughi, also known as Zoka-ol-Molk, was a writer, diplomat and politician who served three terms as Prime Minister of Iran. He wrote numerous books on ancient Iranian history and is known for founding the Academy of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate of Iran</span>

The Senate was the upper house legislative chamber in Imperial State of Iran from 1949 to 1979. A bicameral legislature had been established in the 1906 Persian Constitutional Revolution but the Senate was not actually formed until after the Iran Constituent Assembly, 1949, as an expression of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's desire for more political power. The Senate was filled mainly with men who were supportive of the Shah's aims, as intended by the Shah. Half of the sixty seats in the senate were directly appointed by the Shah, fifteen represented Tehran, and the rest were elected from other regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secularism in Iran</span>

Secularism in Iran was established as state policy shortly after Rezā Shāh was crowned Shah in 1925. He made any public display or expression of religious faith, including the wearing of the headscarf (hijab) and chador by women and wearing of facial hair by men illegal. Public religious festivals and celebrations were banned, Shia clergy were forbidden to preach in extremist ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Iranian Revolution</span>

This article is a timeline of events relevant to the Islamic Revolution in Iran. For earlier events refer to Pahlavi dynasty and for later ones refer to History of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article doesn't include the reasons of the events and further information is available in Islamic revolution of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gholam Hossein Sadighi</span> Iranian politician (1905–1991)

Gholam Hossein Sadighi was an Iranian politician and Minister of Interior in the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. After a CIA-backed coup d'etat overthrew Mossadegh, Sadighi was arrested and later testified in defense of Mossadegh at the latter's trial. Despite the loss of power, Sadighi continued to be politically active. He helped to found the Second National Front in 1960 and, along with other pro-Mossadegh politicians, advocated a democratic system and a Shah that reigns but does not rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mausoleum of Reza Shah</span> Burial ground of Reza Shah Pahlavi

The mausoleum of Reza Shah, located in Ray south of Tehran, was the burial ground of Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), the penultimate Shahanshah (Emperor) of Iran. It was built close to Shah-Abdol-Azim shrine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organizations of the Iranian Revolution</span>

Many organizations, parties and guerrilla groups were involved in the Iranian Revolution. Some were part of Ayatollah Khomeini's network and supported the theocratic Islamic Republic movement, while others did not and were suppressed when Khomeini took power. Some groups were created after the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty and still survive; others helped overthrow the Shah but no longer exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A.S.P. Towers</span>

A.S.P. Towers are amongst the most well-known buildings in Tehran, Iran. They're located in the neighbourhood of Amir Abad and Yusef Abad in the corner of Kordestan and Hakim Highway.

Events from the year 1979 in Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran</span> 1979 return of the Iranian religious leader

Ruhollah Khomeini’s return to Iran on 1 February 1979, after 14 years in exile, was an important event in the Iranian Revolution. It led to the collapse of the provisional government of Shapour Bakhtiar and the final overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 11 February 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Carter's engagement with Ruhollah Khomeini</span> Report published in 2016 by BBC

In 2016, the BBC published a report which stated that the administration of United States President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) had extensive contact with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his entourage in the prelude to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The report was based on "newly declassified US diplomatic cables". According to the report, as mentioned by The Guardian, Khomeini "went to great lengths to ensure the Americans would not jeopardise his plans to return to Iran - and even personally wrote to US officials" and assured them not to worry about their interests in Iran, particularly oil. According to the report, in turn, Carter and his administration helped Khomeini and made sure that the Imperial Iranian army would not launch a military coup.

Houshang Hatem as Iranian general and Deputy Chief of Staff of Imperial Army of Iran.

<i>Iran Between Two Revolutions</i> A book about the analysis of social and political events in Iran

Iran Between Two Revolutions is a book by Ervand Abrahamian that was published in 1982 by Princeton University Press in New Jersey, United States. This book has been translated into Persian and published many times in Iran. The book has eleven chapters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slogans of the 1979 Iranian Revolution</span> About slogans of the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979

This article deals with people's slogans during the 1979 Iranian revolution

References

  1. (۱۳۸۹). «انقلاب اسلامی». ایران بین دو انقلاب. ترجمهٔ احمد گل‌محمدی، محمدابراهیم فتاحی و لیلایی. تهران: نشر نی
  2. "روایت کریم سنجابی از نخست وزیری شاپور بختیار". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  3. "روایتی دیگر: بختیار چرا و چگونه نخست وزیر شد؟". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  4. (۱۳۸۹). «انقلاب اسلامی». ایران بین دو انقلاب. ترجمهٔ احمد گل‌محمدی، محمدابراهیم فتاحی و لیلایی. تهران: نشر نی.
  5. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  6. Sepehri, Sahab. ""Three days of making history, twenty to twenty-two Bahman 57 (2)"" . Retrieved 1 January 2011.