Mohammad Javad Tondguyan

Mohammad Javad Bagher Tondguyan (Persian: محمدجواد تندگویان; 16 June 1950 – 16 December 1991) was an Iranian engineer and petroleum minister under Prime Minister Mohammad-Ali Rajai from 2 September to 3 November 1980 when he was captured by the Iraqi forces in November 1980 during Iran-Iraq war.

Mohammad Javad Tondguyan
Minister of Petroleum
In office
25 September 1980 – 17 August 1981[Note 1]
Prime MinisterMohammad Ali Rajai
Preceded byAli Akbar Moinfar
Succeeded byMohammad Gharazi
Personal details
Born(1950-06-16)16 June 1950
Tehran, Iran
Died16 December 1991(1991-12-16) (aged 41)[Note 2]
Iraq
Resting placeHafte Tir Mausoleum
Political partyIndependent
SpouseBatoul Borhan Ashkevari
Children4
Alma materPetroleum University of Technology (B.Sc.)
Iran Center for Management Studies (M.Sc.)

Early life and education

Tondguyan was born on 16 June 1950.[1]

He was involved in opposition movement against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1967 and was detained and interrogated by the SAVAK.[1] During this period he met Mohammad Khatami.[1] From 1968 to 1972 Tondguyan studied oil engineering at the Abadan Technologic Institute, now Petroleum University of Technology, where he was head of the Islamic Association.[2] The association hosted Ali Shariati, one of the philosophical and political leaders of the Islamic revolution, as a speaker during the 1960s and 1970s.[2] Tondguyan was also one of the figures who disseminated the views of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Abadan during this period.[2]

Career

Following his graduation, Tondguyan began to work in the Tehran refinery.[2] Then he worked for various oil companies in Iran until the 1979 revolution.[1] After the revolution, he was appointed deputy science minister.[1]

In September 1980, Tondguyan was named oil minister replacing Ali Akbar Moinfar in the post and served in the cabinet of Mohammad Ali Rajai.[1] His successor as the minister of oil was Mohammad Gharazi.[3]

Captivity and death

Tondguyan was captured by the Iraqi forces on his tour to the fronts on the Abadan road in Khuzestan Province on 3 November 1980 at the initial phase of the Iran-Iraq war which lasted from 1980 to 1988.[4][5][6] His deputy and a ministry official were also captured with him.[7] They were reportedly taken to Baghdad.[8]

In October 1990, the Iraqi officials stated that he committed suicide two years after his captivity.[5] In November 1990, his wife and father denied this report.[4] Tondguyan's body was delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Iran government in 1991.[6] The committee reported that he died of torture after eleven years of detention in Iraqi prisons.[6]

Personal life

Tondguyan was married and had four children.[4]

Notes
  1. After Tondguyan's capture, Iranian Government did not announce a replacement for him until one year. At the time of his imprisonment at Iraqi jails, Mohsen Sadat was the acting minister.
  2. Date and place unclear, not any official death date and place announced by Iraqi government.

References
  1. "Joint Crisis: Supreme Defense Council of Iran, 1980" (PDF). Harvard Model United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. Peyman Jafari (2019). "Linkages of oil and politics: oil strikes and dual power in the Iranian revolution". Labor History. 60 (1): 27–28. doi:10.1080/0023656X.2019.1537018. hdl:11245.1/cf873983-78d2-4054-aef3-00ffa6a7a6c3. S2CID 158258218.
  3. Nader Habibi (June 2014). "Can Rouhani Revitalize Iran's Oil and Gas Industry?". Middle East Brief (80): 4.
  4. "Former Oil Minister's Family Appeals for His Release" (PDF). Kayhan. 5 November 1991. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. "Iraq Claims Captive Iranian Ex-Oil Minister Committed Suicide". Associated Press News. Nicosia. 23 October 1990. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  6. "Former minister family seeks compensation from Iraqi national authority". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. Tehran. BBC. 25 December 2003. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  7. Randy Shipp (6 November 1980). "Red Cross asks for report on Iran official's capture". The Christian Science Monitor. Geneva. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  8. David Balderstone (4 November 1980). "Free minister, says Iran". The Age. Tehran. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
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