Gholam Reza Azhari

Timsar
Gholam Reza Azhari
غلامرضا ازهاری
Azhari in 1977
39th Prime Minister of Iran
In office
6 November 1978 – 6 January 1979
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Preceded byJafar Sharif-Emami
Succeeded byShapour Bakhtiar
Chief of the Joint Staff
In office
19 July 1971 – 22 December 1978
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Jamshid Amouzegar
Jafar Sharif-Emami
Preceded byFereydoun Djam
Succeeded byAbbas Gharabaghi
Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff
In office
1969 – 19 July 1971
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Iran's military representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
In office
1967–1969
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Commandant of the War College
In office
1960–1963
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime MinisterManouchehr Eghbal
Jafar Sharif-Emami
Ali Amini
Asadollah Alam
Preceded by?
Succeeded byAbbas Gharabaghi
Personal details
Born18 February 1912
Shiraz, Sublime State of Persia
Died5 November 2001(2001-11-05) (aged 89)
McLean, Virginia, United States of America
Alma materNational War College
Military service
Allegiance Pahlavi Iran
Branch/serviceImperial Iranian Ground Force
Years of service
1933–1979
Rank General
Commands
  • Western Corps of Kermanshah (1964–1967)
  • Sabzevar Division (?–?)
  • 11th Infantry Division of Kerman (1958–1960)
  • Deputy Commander of the Central Military Police (1947–?)
Battles/wars

Gholam Reza Azhari (Persian: غلامرضا ازهاری; 18 February 1912 – 5 November 2001) was an Iranian military officer who served as the 39th and penultimate Prime Minister of Iran and 19th Chief of the Joint staff under the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Early life and education

Azhari in 1978

Gholam Reza Azhari was born in Shiraz in 1912 (or in 1917, according to some sources).[1]

After completing his primary and secondary education, Azhari entered the Officers' Academy in 1933. Two years later, he graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant and joined the Imperial Iranian Army. In 1947, after being promoted to Colonel, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Central Military Police.

He was a graduate of Iran's war college and was also trained at the National War College in Washington in the 1950s.[1]

Career

Azhari commanded the 11th Infantry Division of Kerman from 1958–1960 and later commanded the Sabzevar Division;[2] Two years afterward, he became commandant of the war college. In 1964 he Commanded the "Western Corps" or First Army at Kermanshah until 1967, the unit would later to be also commanded by Abbas Gharabaghi.

In 1967, Azhari became Iran's Military Representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).[3] Beginning in 1969, he served for two years as Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff, He was appointed chief of the joint staff of Iran's armed forces in 1971 and his tenure lasted until 1978.[4] He served as interim prime minister of a military government until a civilian government could be chosen. He served as prime minister from 6 November 1978 to 31 December 1978.[5][6] He formed the first military government in Iran since 1953.[4]

On 21 December 1978, Azhari, then the prime minister, told U.S. Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan that, "You must know this and you must tell it to your government. This country is lost because the Shah cannot make up his mind."[7] Azhari left office on 2 January 1979[8] after reportedly having a heart attack.[9] He was succeeded by Abbas Gharabaghi as the chief of the army staff.[10] Shapour Bakhtiar succeeded Azhari as prime minister.[10][11] On 18 February 1979 Azhari was retired from the army in absentia.[12]

Cabinet

His cabinet was composed of nine members:[13][14]

However, it is also reported that the government was of eleven men and six of them were military officers.[15]

Honours

Rank

Third Lieutenant Second Lieutenant First Lieutenant Captain Major
1933 1935 1937 1939 1942
22 24 26 28 31
Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General General
1945 1947 1957 1959 1963 1969
34 36 46 48 52 58

Later years and death

Azhari suffered a heart attack while serving as prime minister.[9] After leaving office he went to the US in January 1979 for heart surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.[9] After surgery he did not return to Iran and settled in McLean, Virginia.[9] In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, a religious judge and then chairman of the Revolutionary Court, informed the press that the death sentence was passed on the members of the Pahlavi dynasty and the Shah's former officials, including Azhari.[16]

He died of cancer in McLean, Virginia, in the U.S. on 5 November 2001.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Index At-Az". Rulers. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Iran After the Shah: An Intelligence Assessment (PDF) (Report). Central Intelligence Agency. August 1978. p. 17 – via CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room.
  3. ↑ Rubin, Barry (1980). Paved with Good Intentions (PDF). New York: Penguin Books. p. 220. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 Raein, Parviz (6 November 1978). "Shah decrees military control in Iran". The Day. Tehran. AP. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  5. ↑ Mansoor Moaddel (January 1994). Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution. Columbia University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-231-51607-5. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Nikazmerad, Nicholas M. (1980). "A Chronological Survey of the Iranian Revolution". Iranian Studies. 13 (1/4): 327–368. doi:10.1080/00210868008701575. JSTOR 4310346.
  7. ↑ Sullivan, William H. Mission to Iran. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1981. p. 212.
  8. ↑ "Iran Cabinet". The Telegraph. 2 January 1979. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gholamreza Azhari, 83; Briefly Served as Iran's Prime Minister". Los Angeles Times. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Shah selects chief of staff". The Palm Beach Post. Tehran. 5 January 1979. Retrieved 4 November 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ↑ Jessup, John E. (1998). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 46. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Roberts, Mark (January 1996). "Purge of the Monarchists". McNair Papers (47–48). Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "General Gholam Reza Azhari meets the Foreign Press (1978)". Iranian. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  14. ↑ Sepehr Zabir (27 April 2012). The Iranian Military in Revolution and War (RLE Iran D). Taylor & Francis. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-136-81270-5.
  15. ↑ Jahangir Amuzegar (1991). The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution: The Pahlavis' Triumph and Tragedy. SUNY Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-7914-9483-7. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "No Safe Haven: Iran's Global Assassination Campaign". Iran Human Rights. 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

Sources

  • 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the Past Three Centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). ISBN 964-93406-6-1 (Vol. 1), ISBN 964-93406-5-3 (Vol. 2).
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