Military government of Gholam-Reza Azhari

Shah ordered Gholam Reza Azhari at 5 November 1978 to lead the Military government at the time of growing Protests in the country.[1] The selection of General Azhari was taken as an indirect signal to the revolutionaries that the regime had lost its resolve to resist and play it tough.[2]

Military government of Gholam Reza Azhari

Military cabinet of Imperial State of Iran
Prime Minister
Date formed6 November 1978 (1978-11-06)
Date dissolved31 December 1978 (1978-12-31)
People and organisations
Head of stateMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Head of governmentGholam Reza Azhari
Deputy head of governmentAli Fardad
No. of ministers18
History
Legislature term(s)24th Iranian Majlis
PredecessorSharif-Emami II
SuccessorBakhtiar

Of the eleven cabinet ministers appointed by Azhari, only six were military, and even this number was whittled down in the following weeks. The military cabinet members, for the most part, had no experience in their respective areas of responsibility. In short, the hotly debated change to a military government was, in practice, more cosmetic than real.[1]

Among Azhari's first acts were the arrest and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Hoveida, the former head of SAVAK, the former head of the national police, the former mayor of Tehran and several more former ministers and high dignitaries. These wanton acts were again carried out in the hope of appeasing the revolutionaries.[2]

On the eve of 20 December, Prime Minister Gholam Reza Azhari suffered a massive heart attack. He tendered his resignation to the Shah on 31 December 1978.[3]

Cabinet

Cabinet members were as follows:[4][5]

PortfolioMinisterTookofficeLeftofficeParty
Prime MinisterGholam Reza Azhari6 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Minister of AgricultureAmir Hossein Amir-Parviz22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of CommerceAhmad Me'marzadeh[upper-alpha 1]22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Culture and ArtKamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Mohsen Foroughi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Culture and Higher EducationKamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Shamsoddin Mofidi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of EducationKamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Mohammad Reza Ameli Tehrani22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Economic Affairs and FinanceAbbas Gharabaghi*6 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Hassan-Ali Mehran22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of EnergyIraj Moghadam[upper-alpha 2]22 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Minister of Foreign AffairsAmir Khosrow Afshar22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of HealthMohammad-Hassan Morshed22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of HousingAmir Hossein Rabii*6 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Manouchehr Behravan22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Industries and MinesMohammad-Reza Amin22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Information and TourismAbolhassan Sa'adatmand[upper-alpha 3]22 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Minister of InteriorAbbas Gharabaghi22 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Minister of JusticeHossein Najafi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Labor and Social AffairsGholam Ali Oveissi*6 November 197822 November 1978 Military
Bagher Katouzian22 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Minister of Post, Telegraph and TelephoneKarim Mo'tamedi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of Roads and TransportationHassan Shalchian22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Minister of WarReza Azimi22 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Ministers without portfolio
Executive AffairsMostafa Paydar22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Parliamentary AffairsAhmad Nazemi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Political AffairsEzzatollah Homayounfar22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
EndowmentMohsen Shariatmadari22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Plan and BudgetMorteza Salehi22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Vice Prime Ministers
Deputy Prime MinisterAli Fardad22 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
Director of the SAVAKNasser Moghaddam6 November 197831 December 1978 Military
President of the Atomic Energy OrganizationAkbar Etemad6 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
President of the Department of EnvironmentManouchehr Feyli6 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
President of the Physical Education OrganizationNader Jahanbani6 November 197831 December 1978 Military
Secretary-General of the ARAOAmin AliMard6 November 197831 December 1978 Nonpartisan
  1. Acting from 8 to 22 November
  2. Acting from 6 to 22 November
  3. Acting from 6 to 22 November
* Acting

See also

References

  1. Fardust, Hussein (1998). The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardust. Translated by Dareini, Ali Akbar. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 392. ISBN 9788120816428.
  2. Ganji, Manouchehr (2002). Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9780275971878.
  3. Phillips, Tomas B. (2012). Queer Sinister Things: The Hidden History of Iran. Lulu. p. 406. ISBN 9780557509294.
  4. "Government of Azhari, from begging to end". Ebtekar (in Persian). Tehran. 13 (3567): 12. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  5. Zandi, Mohammad Ali (15 November 2014). "Gholam Reza Azhari" (in Persian). Baqir al-Ulum Research Institute. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
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