Gholam Reza Azhari (; 18 February 1912 – 5 November 2001) was an Iranian military officer who served as the 39th and penultimate Prime Minister of Iran and 19th Chief of the Joint staff under the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Early life and education
Gholam Reza Azhari was born in Shiraz in 1912 (or in 1917, according to some sources).
After completing his primary and secondary education, Azhari entered the Officers' Academy in 1933. Two years later, he graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant and joined the Imperial Iranian Army. In 1947, after being promoted to Colonel, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Central Military Police.
He was a graduate of Iran's war college and was also trained at the National War College in Washington in the 1950s.
Career Azhari commanded the 11th Infantry Division of Kerman from 1957–1958 and later commanded the Sabzevar Division from 1958–1959; Two years afterward, he became commandant of the war college. In 1964 he Commanded the "Western Corps" or First Army at Kermanshah until 1967, the unit would later to be also commanded by Abbas Gharabaghi.
In 1967, Azhari became Iran's Military Representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). Beginning in 1969, he served for two years as Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff, He was appointed chief of the joint staff of Iran's armed forces in 1971 and his tenure lasted until 1978. He served as interim prime minister of a military government until a civilian government could be chosen. He served as prime minister from 6 November 1978 to 31 December 1978. He formed the first military government in Iran since 1953.
On 21 December 1978, Azhari, then the prime minister, told U.S. Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan that, "You must know this and you must tell it to your government. This country is lost because the Shah cannot make up his mind."Sullivan, William H. Mission to Iran. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1981. p. 212. Azhari left office on 2 January 1979 after reportedly having a heart attack. He was succeeded by Abbas Gharabaghi as the chief of the army staff. Shapour Bakhtiar succeeded Azhari as prime minister. On 18 February 1979 Azhari was retired from the army in absentia.
Cabinet
His cabinet was composed of nine members:
General Gholam Ali Oveissi, Military governor of Tehran (Labour and social affairs (acting)), Lieutenant General Nasser Moghaddam, head of the Security Police (Energy), General Abbas Gharabaghi (Interior), Lieutenant General (Housing and development), General Reza Azimi (Defense) Amir Khosrow Afshar (Foreign affairs), Mohammad-Reza Amin (Mines and industry), (Posts and telecommunications) Admiral Kamal Habibollahi (Education and Culture & Art)
However, it is also reported that the government was of eleven men and six of them were military officers.
Honours U.S. Legion of Merit
Rank Third LieutenantSecond LieutenantFirst LieutenantCaptainMajor 193319351937193919422224262831 Lieutenant ColonelColonelBrigadier GeneralMajor GeneralLieutenant GeneralGeneral 194519471957195919631969343646485258
Later years and death Azhari suffered a heart attack while serving as prime minister. After leaving office he went to the US in January 1979 for heart surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital. After surgery he did not return to Iran and settled in McLean, Virginia. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, a religious judge and then chairman of the Revolutionary Court, informed the press that the death sentence was passed on the members of the Pahlavi dynasty and the Shah's former officials, including Azhari.
He died of cancer in McLean, Virginia, in the U.S. on 5 November 2001.
See also List of prime ministers of Iran
References
Sources 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (), Iran in the Past Three Centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - , Tehran, Iran, 2003). (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2).