Shamseddin Amir-Alai

Shamseddin Amir-Alai (1900–August 1994) was an Iranian politician who served as both interior minister and justice minister in the first cabinet of Mohammad Mosaddegh. He also held other government and diplomatic posts.

Shamseddin Amir-Alai
Born1900
Tehran, Sublime State of Persia
DiedAugust 1994 (aged 93–94)
Tehran, Iran
Resting placeBehesht e Zahra cemetery, Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
Political partyNational Front
ParentAli Akbar Khan Najd al Saltanah (Father)

Early life and education

Amir-Alai was born in Tehran in 1900.[1] His father was Ali Akbar Khan Najd al Saltanah.[1] He received a bachelor's degree in finance and administration from a European university.[1] In 1964 he obtained his PhD in political science in Paris.[1]

Career and activities

Following his return to Iran Amir-Alai worked at the Ministry of Post and then, at the Ministry of Justice.[1] In the latter he served as a judge.[2] Later he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture as a senior official.[3] In February 1946 he was named as the minister of agriculture after serving as acting minister in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam.[1][4]

Amir-Alai joined the National Front established by Mohammad Mosaddegh and was one of the individuals who signed the Charter of the Front in February 1949.[2][5] Amir-Alai held several government positions during Mossadegh's premiership.[1][4] He was the minister of interior in the first cabinet of Mosaddegh[1] and the minister of justice in his second cabinet.[6][7] Then he was appointed by Mosaddegh as the ambassador of Iran to Belgium.[8]

At the beginning of 1950s he was appointed governor of Gilan during the premiership of Ali Razmara.[1] Razmara's successor Hossein Ala' named Amir-Alai as minister of justice in March 1951.[1][9] In May 1955 Amir-Alai and four other political figures, including Bagher Kazemi, who were all close to Mosaddegh were arrested on the orders of the military governor of Tehran, Teymur Bakhtiar.[8]

Following the regime change in Iran in 1979 Amir-Alai was appointed ambassador of Iran to France, but he resigned from the post in 1980 due to his conflict with the foreign minister, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh.[1] Later Amir-Alai became an opposition leader.[10]

Death and funeral

Amir-Alai died in a car accident outside his home in August 1994 which is considered by the Iranian opposition as mysterious.[10][11][12] His funeral ceremony was held on 11 August 1994, and he was buried in Behesht e Zahra cemetery.[11]

During his funeral another leading opposition figure, Dariush Forouhar, was abducted by the Iranian intelligence personnel.[11]

References
  1. "شمس الدین امیرعلایی" (in Persian). Institute for Iranian Contemporary Studies. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  2. Pınar Arıkan Sinkaya (2015). Discursive continuity of political nationalism as a form of opposition politics in modern Iran (PhD thesis). Middle East Technical University. p. 136. hdl:11511/25256.
  3. "File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia". Qatar Digital Library. 1948. Retrieved 16 August 2023. Citing from the British India Office Records and Private Papers
  4. Manshour Varasteh (April 2003). Ascent and Descent of Marxist forces in Contemporary Iran Case Study: People's Fedaii & Tudeh Party (PhD thesis). University of Wales (Aberythwyth). p. 66. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.857.3260.
  5. Mehrdad Khonsari (June 1995). The National Movement of the Iranian Resistance 1979-1991: The role of a banned opposition movement in international politics (PhD thesis). London School of Economics. p. 77.
  6. Ervand Abrahamian (2013). The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations. New York: The New Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-59558-826-5.
  7. "British Protest To Persia". The Times. No. 52174. Tehran. 3 December 1951. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  8. "5 Iran Ex-Officials face jail in "white man's hell"". The Mossadegh Project. Tehran. Associated Press. 21 May 1955. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  9. "Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology". The Middle East Journal. 3 (3): 342. Summer 1951. JSTOR 4322297.
  10. "Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security. A Profile" (Report). Washington DC: Library of Congress. December 2012. p. 50. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  11. Safa Haeri (12 August 1994). "Iran agents abduct liberal at funeral". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  12. Muhammad Sahimi (5 January 2011). "The Chain Murders: Killing Dissidents and Intellectuals, 1988-1998". PBS Frontline. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
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