Fazlollah Zahedi

Mohammad Fazlollah Zahedi (1897-1963) was an Iranian general, Prime Minister, and politician.

Biography

Early Years

Born in Hamedan in 1896, Fazlollah Zahedi was the son of Abol Hassan "Bassir Diwan" Zahedi, a wealthy land owner at the city of Hamedan. During his service at the Imperial Russian-trained Iranian Cossack Brigade, one of his comrades in arms (his superior in fact) was Reza Khan, later Reza Shah Pahlavi. He was among the officers dispatched to Gilan who put an end to the Jangal movement of Gilan of Mirza Kuchak Khan. At the age of 23, as a company commander, Zahedi had led troops into battle against rebel tribesmen in the northern provinces. [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003 p.142] Two year later Reza Shah promoted him to the rank of brigadier general. The alliance, forged between the two men, was to endure a lifetime and continued to bind their sons, personally as well as politically.

He was also involved in the overthrow of Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee's government in 1920. It was Colonel Zahedi who arrested Sheikh Khaz'al Khan and brought him to Tehran.

During Reza Shah's reign, General Zahedi was named (1926) military governor of Khuzestan province, holding the hub of Iran's oil industry, and in 1932 chief of national police, one of the nation's top internal posts. During World War II he was appointed (1941) commanding general of the Isfahan Division. Following the forced abdication of Reza Shah (1941), Zahedi was arrested by British forces in 1942 allegedly for his sympathy for Nazi Germany, and hoarding of grain with which he was "making huge sums" on the black market. [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.142] He was flown out of the country and interned in Palestine until the end of the war.

Return from Internment

Returned from internment in Palestine in 1945, during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah (Reza Shah's son and successor), General Zahedi became Inspector of military forces in southern Iran. He became once more chief of national police ("Shahrbani") in 1949, when Mohammad Reza Shah appointed him as chief of the "Shahrbani" Police Forces, in order to counter the growing threat of Sepahbod Haj Ali Razmara.

1950s

After retiring from the army, he was named Senator in 1950. Zahedi was appointed Minister of the Interior (1951) in Hossein Ala''s administration, a post he would retain when Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh became Prime Minister. Zahedi actively supported the new government's nationalisation of the oil industry, which had previously been owned by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, now BP.Fact|date=April 2008 However, he was at odds with Mossadegh over his increasing tolerance for the outlawed communist party Tudeh, which had boldly demonstrated in favour of nationalisation. Both of these moves naturally antagonised the Western Powers, especially the United Kingdom and the United States. Zahedi was dismissed by Prime Minister Mossadegh after a bloody crackdown on anti-American protesters in mid 1951 in which 20 people killed and 2000 wounded. [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.102]

Zahedi finally broke with Mossadegh, with the latter accusing him of fostering plans for a coup. Meanwhile, sanctions levied by the Western Powers significantly curtailed Iranian oil exports, leading to an economic crisis. Disorder among several ethnic groups in southern Iran and labour unrest among oil-field workers put further pressures on the government. The United States under President Eisenhower, citing Mossadegh's allegedly pro-Moscow inclination, came to view constitutional government as a strategic threat.

1953 Coup

At the behest of the British and American government, and assured of their support, the Shah demanded Mossadegh's resignation in February 1953. Mossadegh refused, bringing to head a crisis that would end the era of constitutional monarchy and would replace it by direct rule of the Shah. The newly-formed CIA, along with the British spy agency MI6, took an active role in the developments, terming their involvement Operation Ajax. Fazlollah himself is reported to have "received more than $100,000 from the CIA," to be "Iran's new prime minister." [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.6] Zahedi and his followers, financed and armed by the foreign intelligence services, organised supporters of the Shah onto the streets, calling for the Prime Minister's ousting. There were such riots in Tehran and other cities. Fearing his arrest, Zahedi went into hiding.

In August 1953, Mossadegh attempted to convince the Shah to leave the country. The Shah refused, and formally dismissed the Prime Minister, in accordance with the Constitution. Mossadegh refused to resign, however, and when it became apparent that he was going to fight, the Shah, as a precautionary measure foreseen by the British/American plan, on 15th August fled first to Baghdad and then to Rome, Italy, after signing two decrees, one dismissing Mossadegh and the other naming Zahedi to replace him as Prime Minister. Mossadegh again refused to step down.

Supported by the United Kingdom and the United States, and encouraged by the intelligence agents Kermit Roosevelt and Donald N. Wilber, Zahedi staged a counter coup on the 19 August 1953, drawing supporters from the military as well as the public. Relying for his legitimacy on the Shah's decrees, Zahedi sent out thousands of copies, along with the proclamation of himself as Prime Minister. The Shah returned triumphantly from exile on 22 August 1953.

Many contemporary sources attribute the coup, or counter coup, entirely to the U.S. American CIA (CIA Coup) and agents of the British MI6 who are reported to have organized and paid for it. [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.5, 6, 210] These sources point to many other coups in which the CIA was instrumental, such as those in Congo (1964), Chile (1973), and Algeria (1991). Supporters of the Shah, however, argue that the counter-coup was in fact a popular uprising, and that the foreign intelligence agencies' undeniable involvement was peripheral. At least some historians argue the coup could not have taken place without both CIA organizing and Iranian support. [Keddie, Nikki R., Roots of Revolution, Yale University Press, 1981, p.140] [Kinzer, Stephen, "All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.211]

Final Exile

Having acquired an unprecedented power-base and, as a consequence, evoking increasing unease at home, the Premiership of General Zahedi ended in 1955. His final exile was sweetened by his last post, as Ambassador to the United Nations, in Geneva.

Family

Zahedi descends from the Sufi mystics Sheikh Zahed Gilani (1216 - 1301) and Sheikh Safi Al-Din Ardebili, the eponym of the Safavid Dynasty. Through his mother, Djavaher Khanom, he traced his descent to the dynastic ruler Karim Khan Zand. Zahedi married Khadijeh Pirnia, daughter of Mirza Hussein Khan Pirnia (titled "Motamen-ol-Molk"), and granddaughter to Mozzafar-al-Din Shah Qajar (1853 - 1907). They had a son, Ardeshir, and a daughter, Homa. Ardeshir, a later politician and diplomat, married Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, daughter of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from his first marriage to Princess Fawzia of Egypt, daughter to King Fuad I. Homa Zahedi was a member of Parliament.

ee also

*Pahlavi Dynasty
*List of Prime Ministers of Iran

References used

* '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 9-649340-661 (Vol. 1), ISBN 9-649340-653 (Vol. 2).
* " Encyclopædia Britannica "

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran -- A special report.; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and in '79)] . "The New York Times", April 16, 2000.
* [http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/082053iran-army.html New york Times article of 20th August 1953]
* [http://www.homepage.mac.com/zahedi/Zahedi_History/PhotoAlbum77.html Images of General Zahedi]
* [http://www.zahedi.info Good historical Picture source]