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Gholam Reza Azhari

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Timsar
Gholam Reza Azhari
Azhari in 1977
39th Prime Minister of Iran
In office
6 November 1978 – 31 December 1978
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Preceded byJafar Sharif-Emami
Succeeded byShapour Bakhtiar
Minister of War
In office
6 November 1978 – 22 November 1978
Succeeded byJafar Shafaghat
Personal details
Born18 February 1912
Shiraz, Sublime State of Persia
Died5 November 2001(2001-11-05) (aged 89)
McLean, Virginia, United States
Alma materNational War College
Military service
Allegiance Imperial State of Iran
Branch/serviceImperial Iranian Army
Years of service1935–1979
RankGeneral
CommandsIranian Armed Forces
Battles/warsAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
Iran crisis of 1946

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

Early life and education

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Azhari in 1978

Azhari was born in Shiraz in 1912 (or in 1917).[1] He was a graduate of Iran's war college. He was also trained at the National War College in Washington in the 1950s.[1]

Career

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Azhari worked at the CENTO.[2] He was appointed chief of staff of Iran's armed forces in 1971 and his tenure lasted until 1978.[3] 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.[4][5] He formed the first military government in Iran since 1953.[3]

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."[6] Azhari left office on 2 January 1979[7] after reportedly having a heart attack.[8] He was succeeded by Abbas Gharabaghi as the chief of the army staff.[9] Shapour Bakhtiar succeeded Azhari as prime minister.[9][10] On 18 February 1979 Azhari was retired from the army in absentia.[11]

Cabinet

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Main article: Military government of Gholam-Reza Azhari

His cabinet was composed of nine members:[12][13]

However, it is also reported that the government was of eleven men and six of them were military officers.[14]

Honours

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Rank

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Age Ranks military Years
22 Cadet officer 1933
24 Second Lieutenant 1935
26 First lieutenant 1937
28 Captain 1939
31 Major 1943
34 Lieutenant Colonel 1946
36 Colonel 1948
46 Brigadier general 1958
48 Major general 1960
52 Lieutenant general 1964
58 General 1970

Later years and death

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Azhari suffered a heart attack while serving as prime minister.[8] After leaving office he went to the US in January 1979 for heart surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.[8] After surgery he did not return to Iran and settled in McLean, Virginia.[8] 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 family and former Shah officials, including Azhari.[15]

He died of cancer in McLean, Virginia, in the U.S. on 5 November 2001.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Index At-Az". Rulers. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b Raein, Parviz (6 November 1978). "Shah decrees military control in Iran". The Day. Tehran. AP. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Nikazmerad, Nicholas M. (1980). "A Chronological Survey of the Iranian Revolution". Iranian Studies. 13 (1/4): 327–368. doi:10.1080/00210868008701575. JSTOR 4310346.
  6. ^ Sullivan, William H. Mission to Iran. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1981. p. 212.
  7. ^ "Iran Cabinet". The Telegraph. 2 January 1979. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Gholamreza Azhari, 83; Briefly Served as Iran's Prime Minister". Los Angeles Times. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Shah selects chief of staff". The Palm Beach Post. Tehran. 5 January 1979. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Roberts, Mark (January 1996). "Purge of the Monarchists". McNair Papers (47–48). Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. ^ "General Gholam Reza Azhari meets the Foreign Press (1978)". Iranian. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "No Safe Haven: Iran's Global Assassination Campaign". Iran Human Rights. 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

Sources

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  • '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).
  • Media related to Gholam-Reza Azhari at Wikimedia Commons
Military offices
Preceded by Chiefs-of-Staff of the Imperial Army
1971–1978 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Iran
1978 		Succeeded by
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