Asadollah Alam

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Asadollah Alam

Amir Asadollah Alam ( Persian اسدالله علمlisten to [ æsædoˈllɑh ɛ æˈlæm ] ? / i ; * 1919 in Birdschand , Iran ; † April 13, 1978 in the United States ) was Prime Minister of Iran. Audio file / audio sample

Life

Asadollah Alam was born in Birdschand in 1919 . His father Ebrahim Alam , called Shokat al-Molk , was one of the richest men in Iran. His house was decorated in a European style, there was a tennis court in the garden and people played bridge or chess in the evenings . Asadollah, the only son, was brought up by private tutors.

After Asadollah finished high school, he traveled to Tehran with his father to be introduced to Reza Shah . Asadollah was supposed to go to Europe to study agriculture there. But Reza Shah suggested that he enroll in the newly established agricultural school in Karaj. The trip to Europe was over before it even began. Reza Shah also ordered Asadollah to marry the daughter of Ebrahim Qavam (Qavam al Molk), Malek-Taj. Asadollah Alam and Malek-Taj had only met twice on the tennis court before they were married. Reza Shah had appointed a son Ebrahim Qavam as husband for his daughter Aschraf.

After the marriage, Alam and his wife were regularly invited to receptions at the court of the Pahlavis. At these receptions, Alam made friends with Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , a friendship that would last a lifetime.

In 1941 Alam graduated from the agricultural school and returned to Birdschand with his young wife. Alam's father, Shokat al-Molk, was Governor of Sistan and Balochistan and Minister of Posts and Telegraphs in Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi's cabinet at the time .

After the death of his father in 1943, Asadollah Alam took over the post of governor of Sistan and Balochistan at the age of 23 on the instructions of Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam . In 1946, after Qavam resigned, Alam became Minister of Agriculture in the Mohammad Sa'ed Maraghei cabinet . Alam was the youngest minister in modern Iranian history.

In 1952, Alam was entrusted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with the management of the vast Pahlavis' holdings. During the Mossadegh government , Alma had to surrender his passport to prevent him from leaving the country. Numerous friends of the Pahlavis had already been arrested. Alam was only asked by Mossadegh to leave Tehran and return to Birdschand.

After the fall of Mossadegh, Alam returned to Tehran and became one of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's closest advisers. In 1957, when the Shah decided to establish a two- party system based on the American model in Iran , Alam was given the task of founding the Mardom Party (People's Party). In the Mardom party, the different opposition forces should be united. Alam met regularly with Khalil Maleki, the leader of Iran's Social Democrats. From 1961 Alam also organized meetings with the leaders of the National Front . When Crown Prince Cyrus Reza Pahlavi was born, Alam proposed to National Front leader Alahyar Saleh to become the mentor of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's son. Saleh refused. All talks, negotiations and attempts to achieve a reconciliation between the Shah and the opposition parties after the fall of Mossadegh failed.

On July 19, 1962, after Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's return from his trip to the United States, where he met with President John F. Kennedy to discuss a major reform program for Iran with Kennedy, Alam became Prime Minister.

prime minister

Prime Minister Asadollah Alam, 1963

Asadollah Alam's reign can be considered historical for several reasons. Initially, he continued the reforms that had already been started under his predecessor Prime Minister Ali Amini . Amini's reforms, including the land reform, were initially aimed at materially improving living conditions in Iran. Alam wanted more. In addition to improving the economy, he also wanted social reforms that would make Iran a modern, western-style constitutional state. The first step on this path was electoral reform. Iran's right to vote dates back to the time of the Constitutional Revolution . Under the new electoral law, women in Iran were given the right to vote and stand for election. For the first time in the history of Iran's women could MPs vote and be elected as deputies. Another important change concerned the position of religious minorities. The electoral law was a class suffrage, with the classes voting separately according to religious affiliation. The religious minorities of Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians recognized in the constitution elected their own representatives. However, they could not take up ministerial posts in a government. This restriction has also been abolished. All Iranians should be able to take on public offices with equal rights, even with the rank of minister. Associated with the reform of the electoral law was also a change in the swearing-in ceremony for the swearing-in when assuming a public office as with civil servant status. So far everyone swore by the holy Koran . After the change in the law, the oath of office should be sworn “on the holy book”, whereby the religious affiliation determined the choice of the holy book.

This change in the law proposed by Alam and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in ​​1963 actually had nothing to do with the westernization of Iran, but rather consisted of a reform of political equality for men and women and religious minorities, which was long overdue for the 1960s. For the Islamic clergy it was a declaration of war. A hitherto largely unknown ayatollah by the name of Khomeini became the vocal spokesman for the spiritual forces of the opposition. Demonstrations that led to violent riots were organized by supporters of the clergy. The climax of the riots came on June 3, 1963. Left opposition groups, supporters of Mossadegh and the National Front had, for whatever reason, expressed solidarity with the clergy. More than 10,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Tehran. Alam called the army for help after he could only leave the seat of government in an armored vehicle. For the first time after the Second World War , there was a state of emergency in Tehran. Troops marched in the streets and demonstrators were shot at. Thousands were injured, the number of deaths is given by Alam as 20, others speak of 80 to 90 dead. The provisions on the oath of office have been removed from the electoral law. However, Alam remained harsh on the issue of active and passive voting rights for women.

Leading politicians of the Islamic Republic of Iran declare today that the uprising in June 1963 against the Alam's electoral reforms marked the birth of the Islamic revolution. Alam had pushed through the electoral reform, but his political fate as Prime Minister was sealed. On March 7, 1964, Alam resigned.

Ten days after his resignation, Alam became Chancellor of the Pahlavi University in Shiraz (now the University of Shiraz ), one of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's prestige projects. The establishment of the University of Tehran was associated with the name of his father Reza Shah . With the University of Shiraz, a second university with international renown was to be created in Iran. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi then made substantial funds available to advance the expansion of the university under Alam.

Court Minister

In December 1966, Alam became Minister of the Court and thus the closest advisor to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Alam would hold this office for nearly eleven years until July 1977. In this office was also responsible for the planning and implementation of the 2500th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy . On July 17, 1977 he had his last audience with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi before he moved to Europe due to illness.

On April 13, 1978, Asadollah Alam died of cancer.

Awards

Fonts

  • Asadollah Alam: The Shah and I. The Confidential Diary of Iran's Royal Court, 1969–1977. Tauris, London 1991, ISBN 1-85043-340-2 .
  • Assadollah Alam, Alinaghi Alikhani: The Diaries of Assadollah Alam. 1992, ISBN 0-936347-57-0

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2009, Volume 1, p. 46.
  2. ↑ Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2009, Volume 1, p. 48.
  3. ↑ Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2009, Volume 1, p. 49.
  4. ↑ a b Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2009, Volume 1, p. 51.
  5. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Alam, Asadollah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alam, Amir Asadollah
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Iranian Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Birdschand
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1978
Place of death United States