Hasan Nazih

Hasan Nazih (Persian: حسن نزیه) (1921–2012) was an Iranian civil rights lawyer and politician. Following the Islamic revolution in Iran he briefly served as the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) between February and September 1979.

Hasan Nazih
Nazih in 1979
Head of National Iranian Oil Company
In office
17 February 1979 – 28 September 1979
Prime MinisterMehdi Bazargan
Preceded byHushang Ansary
Personal details
Born1921
Tabriz, Sublime State of Iran
DiedSeptember 2012 (aged 90–91)
Paris, France
Political partyFreedom Movement of Iran (1961–1979)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Nazih was born in Tabriz in 1921.[1][2] However, there is another report giving his birth year as 1920.[3] He held a law degree, which he received from the University of Tehran in 1944.[2] Until 1953 he attended the University of Geneva for doctoral study in law, but he returned to Iran without completing his study.[3]

Political activities and career

After graduation Nazih served as a judge in Iran for four years before pursuing his graduate studies at the University of Geneva which he did not complete, and therefore, he returned to Iran in 1953.[3] He was one of the central council members of the National Front and a supporter of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh during the 1950s.[1][2] He joined the foundation of the Liberation Movement of Iran or Freedom Movement which was led by Mahdi Bazargan in 1961.[2] Nazih founded the Association of Iranian Jurists and served as its director from 1966 to 1978.[3] He was one of the lawyers of Mahmoud Taleghani together with Ahmad Sayyed Javadi in 1977.[4] The same year Nazih significantly contributed to the formation of the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights.[2]

Nazih was also among the prominent figures who supported the 1979 revolution.[5] However, he did not support the Assembly of Experts which drafted Iran's new constitution.[2] On the other hand, he was appointed by Prime Minister Mahdi Bazargan as head of the NIOC on 17 February 1979.[6] Nazih was a critic of Ayatollah Khomeini[7] and stated on 28 May that the Ayatollah's remarks on labelling on those who opposed to the religious leadership enemies of the revolution were not acceptable.[8]

The members of the Revolutionary Council, Mohammad Beheshti and Mohammad Mofatteh, argued that since Nazih criticised Khomeini with this statement, he should be sacked.[9] In addition, Ayatollah Khomeini's son-in-law Shahabuddin Eshraqi initiated a campaign against him in July 1979.[10] They accused Nazih of being a CIA agent.[11] On 28 September 1979, Nazih was relieved from the post by the prime minister[8][12] and also, forced underground.[10] Nazih announced that he wanted to be tried by a panel, including Mahdi Bazargan and Khomeini.[10] Ali Akbar Moinfar, who would also become the first oil minister, succeeded Nazih as the head of the NIOC.[13][14] Later the case against Nazih was dropped by the prosecution.[10]

Exile and death

Nazih fled Iran and settled in France in autumn 1979,[2][15] and there he took refuge.[3] Nazih also left the Freedom Movement in 1979.[1] In exile, he formed the Front for the National Sovereignty of Iran in 1983.[16] Later he headed the Council for the Preparation of a Transition Government in Iran, which had been formed in Germany in 1992.[3][17] The group launched a publication with the editorship of Nazih in Germany.[18]

In his later years, Nazih suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in Paris in September 2012.[2]

References
  1. Houchang Chehabi (1990). Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran Under the Shah and Khomeini. Ithaca, NY: I.B.Tauris. pp. 87, 129. ISBN 978-1-85043-198-5.
  2. Muhammad Sahimi (18 September 2012). "Hassan Nazih, opponent of Shah and Khomeini, dies". PBS. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. Nazie Isfahani (September 1995). "An Iranian Party in Exile: Is It a Realistic Hope?". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. XI (3): 67.
  4. Muhammad Sahimi (31 March 2012). "The Nationalist-Religious Movement Part 2: The Revolutionary Era". PBS. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  5. Ali Gheissari; Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr (2006). Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-19-804087-3.
  6. "Leftist foes warned by Khomeini". The Pittsburgh Press. 17 February 1979. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  7. "Iran Unleashes Might on Kurds". The Pittsburgh Press. Tehran. UPI. 2 September 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  8. Nicholas M. Nikazmerad (1980). "A Chronological Survey of the Iranian Revolution". Iranian Studies. 13 (1/4): 327–368. doi:10.1080/00210868008701575. JSTOR 4310346.
  9. Sajid Rijvi (4 June 1979). "Directors of Iran's oil company resign". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  10. Michael M. J. Fischer (2003). Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-299-18473-5.
  11. Eric Rouleau (1980). "Khomeini's Iran". Foreign Affairs. 59 (1): 1–20. doi:10.2307/20040651. JSTOR 20040651.
  12. "Iran leader fires national oil firm head". St. Petersburg Times. London. AP. 29 September 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  13. Shaul Bakhash (1982). The Politics of Oil and Revolution in Iran: A Staff Paper. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8157-1776-8.
  14. Dilip Hiro (1987). Iran Under the Ayatollahs. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7102-1123-1.
  15. "Bani Sadr criticizes Khomeini for Iran's problems". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Paris. AP. 30 July 1981. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  16. Ehteshami Anous (1995). After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic. London; New York: Routledge, Chapman & Hall. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-415-10879-9.
  17. WM Millward (November 1995). "Commentary No. 63: Containing Iran". Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  18. Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi; Ali Mohammadi (January 1987). "Post-Revolutionary Iranian Exiles: A Study in Impotence". Third World Quarterly. 9 (1): 108–129. doi:10.1080/01436598708419964. JSTOR 3991849.
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