Military government of Gholam-Reza Azhari

Shah ordered Gholam Reza Azhari at 5 November 1978 to lead the Military government at the time of growing Protests in the country.[1] The selection of General Azhari was taken as an indirect signal to the revolutionaries that the regime had lost its resolve to resist and play it tough.[2]

Military government of Gholam Reza Azhari

Military cabinet of Imperial State of Iran
Prime Minister
Date formed6 November 1978 (1978-11-06)
Date dissolved31 December 1978 (1978-12-31)
People and organisations
Head of stateMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Head of governmentGholam Reza Azhari
Deputy head of governmentAli Fardad
No. of ministers18
History
Legislature term(s)24th Iranian Majlis
PredecessorSharif-Emami II
SuccessorBakhtiar

Of the eleven cabinet ministers appointed by Azhari, only six were military, and even this number was whittled down in the following weeks. The military cabinet members, for the most part, had no experience in their respective areas of responsibility. In short, the hotly debated change to a military government was, in practice, more cosmetic than real.[1]

Among Azhari's first acts were the arrest and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Hoveida, the former head of SAVAK, the former head of the national police, the former mayor of Tehran and several more former ministers and high dignitaries. These wanton acts were again carried out in the hope of appeasing the revolutionaries.[2]

On the eve of 20 December, Prime Minister Gholam Reza Azhari suffered a massive heart attack. He tendered his resignation to the Shah on 31 December 1978.[3]

Cabinet

Cabinet members were as follows:[4][5]

PortfolioMinisterTook officeLeft officeParty
Prime Minister Gholam Reza Azhari6 November 197831 December 1978Military
Minister of Agriculture Amir Hossein Amir-Parviz22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Commerce Ahmad Me'marzadeh[upper-alpha 1]22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Culture and Art Kamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Mohsen Foroughi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Culture and Higher Education Kamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Shamsoddin Mofidi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Education Kamal Habibollahi*11 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Mohammad Reza Ameli Tehrani22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Abbas Gharabaghi*6 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Hassan-Ali Mehran22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Energy Iraj Moghadam[upper-alpha 2]22 November 197831 December 1978Military
Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khosrow Afshar22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Health Mohammad-Hassan Morshed22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Housing Amir Hossein Rabii*6 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Manouchehr Behravan22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Industries and Mines Mohammad-Reza Amin22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Information and Tourism Abolhassan Sa'adatmand[upper-alpha 3]22 November 197831 December 1978Military
Minister of Interior Abbas Gharabaghi22 November 197831 December 1978Military
Minister of Justice Hossein Najafi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Gholam Ali Oveissi*6 November 197822 November 1978Military
 Bagher Katouzian22 November 197831 December 1978Military
Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone Karim Mo'tamedi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of Roads and Transportation Hassan Shalchian22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Minister of War Reza Azimi22 November 197831 December 1978Military
Ministers without portfolio
Executive Affairs Mostafa Paydar22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Parliamentary Affairs Ahmad Nazemi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Political Affairs Ezzatollah Homayounfar22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Endowment Mohsen Shariatmadari22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Plan and Budget Morteza Salehi22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Vice Prime Ministers
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Fardad22 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
Director of the SAVAK Nasser Moghaddam6 November 197831 December 1978Military
President of the Atomic Energy Organization Akbar Etemad6 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
President of the Department of Environment Manouchehr Feyli6 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
President of the Physical Education Organization Nader Jahanbani6 November 197831 December 1978Military
Secretary-General of the ARAO Amin AliMard6 November 197831 December 1978Nonpartisan
  1. Acting from 8 to 22 November
  2. Acting from 6 to 22 November
  3. Acting from 6 to 22 November
* Acting

See also

References
  1. Fardust, Hussein (1998). The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardust. Translated by Dareini, Ali Akbar. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 392. ISBN 9788120816428.
  2. Ganji, Manouchehr (2002). Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9780275971878.
  3. Phillips, Tomas B. (2012). Queer Sinister Things: The Hidden History of Iran. Lulu. p. 406. ISBN 9780557509294.
  4. "Government of Azhari, from begging to end". Ebtekar (in Persian). Tehran. 13 (3567): 12. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  5. Zandi, Mohammad Ali (15 November 2014). "Gholam Reza Azhari" (in Persian). Baqir al-Ulum Research Institute. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Government of Iran
Preceded by
Second Government of Sharif-Emami		 Military Government of Azhari
1978		 Succeeded by
Government of Bakhtiar
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