Shapour Bakhtiar
Shapour Bakhtiar | |
---|---|
شاپور بختیار | |
Mohammad Mossadegh | |
Member of Regency Council | |
In office 13 January 1979 – 22 January 1979 | |
Appointed by | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
Personal details | |
Born | Shahrekord, Sublime State of Persia | 26 June 1914
Died | 6 August 1991 Suresnes, France | (aged 77)
Manner of death | Assassination |
Resting place | Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris |
Nationality | Iranian |
Political party |
|
Other political affiliations | National Front (1949–1979) |
Spouse(s) | Madeleine Shahintaj |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Faculty of Law of Paris |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | France |
Branch/service | French Army |
Years of service | 1940–1941 |
Unit | 30th Artillerie Regiment |
Battles/wars | World War II |
| |
Shapour Bakhtiar (
Early life
Bakhtiar was born on 26 June 1914 in southwestern
Bakhtiar's mother died when he was seven years old.[3] His father was executed by Reza Shah in 1934 while Shapour was studying in Paris.[2][3]
Education
He attended elementary school in Shahr-e Kord and then secondary school, first in
Being a firm opponent of totalitarian rule, he was active in the
Political career
Bakhtiar returned to Iran in 1946 and joined the social democratic
In the mid-1950s he was involved in underground activity against the Shah's regime, calling for the 1954 Majlis elections to be free and fair and attempting to revive the nationalist movement. In 1960, the Second National Front was formed and Bakhtiar played a crucial role in the new organization's activities as the head of the student activist body of the Front. He and his colleagues differed from most other government opponents in that they were very moderate, restricting their activity to peaceful protest and calling only for the restoration of democratic rights within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. The Shah refused to co-operate and outlawed the Front and imprisoned the most prominent liberals. From 1964 to 1977, the imperial regime refused to permit any form of opposition activity, even from moderate liberals like Bakhtiar. In the following years Bakhtiar was imprisoned repeatedly, a total of six years, for his opposition to the Shah. He was also one of the prominent members of central council of the illegal Fourth National Front in late 1977, when the group was reconstituted as the Union of National Front Forces with Bakhtiar as head of the Iran Party (the largest group in the Front).
At the end of 1978 (as the Shah's power was crumbling), Bakhtiar was chosen to help in the creation of a civilian government to replace the existing military one. He was appointed to the position of Prime Minister by the Shah, as a concession to his opponents, especially the followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini[citation needed]. Although that caused him to be expelled from the National Front, he accepted the appointment, as he feared a revolution in which communists and mullahs would take over the country, which he thought would ruin Iran[citation needed].
In his 36 days as premier of Iran, Bakhtiar ordered all political prisoners to be freed, lifted censorship of newspapers (whose staff had until then been on strike), relaxed martial law, ordered the dissolution of SAVAK (the regime's secret police) and requested for the opposition to give him three months to hold elections for a constituent assembly that would decide the fate of the monarchy and determine the future form of government for Iran[citation needed]. Despite the conciliatory gestures, Khomeini refused to collaborate with Bakhtiar, denouncing the premier as a traitor for siding with the Shah, labeling his government "illegitimate" and "illegal" and calling for the overthrow of the monarchy. Bakhtiar was accused by some of making mistakes during his premiership such as allowing Khomeini to re-enter Iran. In the end, he failed to rally even his own former colleagues of the National Front.
His government was overwhelmingly rejected by the masses except for a very small number of pro-Shah loyalists and a handful of moderate pro-democratic elements. The opposition was not willing to compromise. The Shah was forced to leave the country in January 1979; Bakhtiar left Iran again for France in April of the same year.
French exile and series of assassination attempts
Shortly after the revolution, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, a religious judge and later chairman of the Revolutionary Court, announced to the press that the death sentence had been passed on members of the Pahlavi family and former Shah officials, including Bakhtiar.[8]
In July 1979, Bakhtiar emerged in Paris.
On 18 July 1980, he escaped an assassination attempt by a group of three attackers in his home in
Death
On 6 August 1991, Bakhtiar was murdered along with his secretary, Soroush Katibeh, by three assassins in his home in the Parisian suburb of
Aftermath
The release of Rad had happened only two days after Tehran freed Clotilde Reiss, a French student accused of spying by the Islamic regime. Both the French and Iranian governments deny the two affairs were linked.[21]
Hours after the assassination of Bakhtiar, a British hostage was released from Lebanon, presumably held by Hezbollah, but a French hostage was taken.[22] Although many in the Iranian exile community speculated of official French complicity in Bakhtiar's death, the second kidnapping is said to cast a shadow over such theories. The French would seem unlikely to support an operation that included the kidnapping of another French hostage in Lebanon, but there is no apparent connection between the two events.[13]
Published works
He published a memoir
Personal life
Bakhtiar was first married to a French woman with whom he had three children, a son Guy and two daughters, Viviane and France.[25] Viviane died of a heart attack at the age of 49 in Cannes in August 1991.[26] Guy is a French police intelligence unit officer.[27]
Shortly before his death, Bakhtiar divorced his wife and married a young Iranian woman.[28] His second wife was Shahintaj, and they had a son, Goudarz. He also had a stepdaughter named Manijeh Assad. As of 2001, all three were United States citizens.[29]
Bakhtiar is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.[3]
See also
Notes
- ^ S2CID 158585193.
- ^ a b c d e f Dan Geist (6 August 2011). "'A Darker Horizon': The Assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar". PBS. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d Cyrus Kadivar (4 March 2003). "37 days. A cautionary tale that must not be forgotten". The Iranian. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "Bakhtiari, Teymour". Bakhtiari Family. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
- ^ Elizabeth Collard (1979), "IRAN", MEED, 23 (1–13), Economic East Economic Digest Ltd: 18
- New York Times, retrieved 6 July 2015
- ^ ISBN 978-2-226-01561-7
- ^ "No Safe Haven: Iran's Global Assassination Campaign". Iran Human Rights. 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-86356-515-1. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ a b c "Police thwart attempt to assassinate Bakhtiar". The Pittsburgh Press. Vol. 97, №. 25. UPI. 18 July 1980. p. A8. Retrieved 4 November 2012 – via news.google.com.
- ^ a b Hooman Bakhtiar (9 August 2015). "Obama's Sanctions Gift to an Assassin for Iran". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Ali Vakili Rad: The Perfect Murder and An Imperfect Getaway". France 24. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ^ a b Riding, Alan. "France Vows to Press for Release of Newly Taken Hostage", New York Times, 10 August 1991. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ^ Rempel, William C. "Tale of Deadly Iranian Network Woven in Paris" Archived 27 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times, 3 November 1994. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ISBN 978-1-58836-434-0. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Greenhouse, Stephen. "French Ask Swiss on Jailed Iranian", New York Times, 28 December 1991. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ^ Riding, Alan; 3 Iranians Go on Trial in France in Slaying of Exiled Ex-Premier, New York Times; 3 November 1994; retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ^ U.S. State Department, 1994 Human Rights Report: Iran Archived 7 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 November 2007
- ^ "Iran Gives Hero's Welcome to Killer of Former Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar Print Comment Share". Voice of America. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Bakhtiar's Murderer Turned into a Hero and Role Model". Rooz Online. 20 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Lisa Bryant (17 May 2010). "France Sends Iranian Assassin Home". Voice of America. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ Schmidt, William E. "Pressure Mounts on Israel to Free Its Arab Hostages", New York Times, 10 August 1991. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ISBN 0-932885-14-4
- ^ 37 Days after 37 Years, in Persian, Radio Iran Publications, Paris, 1982 [ISBN missing]
- ^ "An interview of Shapour Bakhtiar's Only Living Daughter". Iranian. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Bakhtiar's daughter dies of heart attack". UPI. Cannes. 24 August 1991. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Autopsy shows Bakhtiar likely killed Tuesday".
- ISBN 9781617977954
- ^ David Rosenzweig (8 August 2001). "Family of Slain Prime Minister Files Suit Against Iranian Government". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
External links
- Media related to Shapour Bakhtiar at Wikimedia Commons
- Website dedicated to Bakhtiar: (English), (Persian).
- Interview with Bakhtiar on Tuesday 6 March 1984 in Paris (in Persian):
Shapour Bakhtiar, Iranian Oral History, Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies:
— Audio 1a (29 min 30 sec), Audio 2a (30 min 35 sec), Audio 1b (29 min 18 sec), Audio 2b (30 min 44 sec) - Iran Chamber Society—Historic Personalities: Shapour Bakhtiar
- Persian Iran page about Bakhtiar
- Detail audio report about Dr. Bakhtiar's Murder by the Qods Force Archived 10 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine