Mohammad Amir Khatami

Arteshbod Mohammad Amir Khatami (Persian: محمدامیر خاتمی) (1920 – 12 September 1975), CVO, was the commander of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, advisor to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the second husband of Fatemeh Pahlavi, half-sister of the Shah.

Mohammad Amir Khatami
Born9 March 1920
Rasht, Qajar Iran
Died12 September 1975(1975-09-12) (aged 55)
Dez Dam, Andimeshk, Pahlavi Iran
Burial
Reza Shah's mausoleum
Spouse
Parvindokht Khadivi
​
​
(m. 1945; died 1947)​

​
​
(m. 1960)​
Issue
List
    • Sabrieh Khatami
    • Kambiz Khatami
    • Ramin Khatami
    • Pari Khatami
Military service
Branch/service
Years of service1940–1975
RankGeneral
House

Early life and education

Khatami was born in Rasht in 1920.[1] His father was a tea house owner and later dealt with real estate.[2] His mother was a relative of Imam Jomeh, a significant religious figure in Tehran and a relative of Nasr ed Din Shah.[2]

After graduating from the Alborz High School in Tehran, Khatami attended the military high school.[2] In 1939, he began to study at the air force branch of the military college and graduated as a second lieutenant.[2][3] Next he took pilot training courses in the United Kingdom and graduated from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.[3] He was also trained at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany, in the 1950s.[4]

Shahpour Gholam Reza Pahlavi (left) and Mohammad Khatami

Career

In 1946, Khatami was named personal pilot of the Shah.[5][6] Days before the coup on 16 August 1953, the Shah, accompanied by his second wife Sorayya Esfandiary Bakhtiari and Aboul Fath Atabay, escaped from Iran to Iraq and then to Italy by a plane flown by Khatami.[6][7][8] Khatami was also one of the military advisers of the Shah.[5]

Later Khatami became a four-star general.[9] In 1957 he was appointed chief of staff of the Imperial Air Force.[10][11] He succeeded Hedayat Gilanshah in the post.[12] Khatami served in this post until his death in 1975.[1][12] During Khatami's long tenure, the Imperial Air Force was modeled on the U.S. Air Force and became Iran’s main striking arm.[13] Its transport and tactical airlift capabilities were significantly expanded between 1965 and 1968.[13] Khatami's successor was Fazael Tadayon who was appointed to the post on 14 September 1975.[14]

In addition, Khatami served as the chairman of the board of the Iranian National Airlines and chief of the council of the Civil Aviation Department.[2] He also had some business activities. He was co-owner of a construction company[2] and had shares in the aviation and real estate companies.[15]

Personal life

Khatami married twice. His first spouse was his cousin with whom he had a daughter.[1] She was killed in an accident in 1954. Then Khatami married Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi on 22 November 1959, half-sister of the Shah.[10][16][17] The Shah and his fiancée Farah Diba attended the wedding ceremony.[18] They had two sons, Kambiz (born 1961) and Ramin (born 1967), and a daughter, Pari (born 1962).[3]

In 1947 Khatami was the captain of the Iranian national football team.[9] A declassified CIA report argues that Khatami was close to Hossein Fardoust and Taqi Alavikia, and that they were part of a dowreh, or social-political circle of associates.[2][19] The dowreh, along with familial relations, was a significant element in the political functioning of Iran in the Pahlavi era.[2] The Americans regarded Khatami as a pro-American official who might assume the role of successor to the Shah.[5]

At the time of his death, Khatami's wealth was estimated to be nearly $100 million.[5][20]

Death

Khatami died in a kiting accident on 12 September 1975 in Dezful.[1][10] His death has been considered to be mysterious, and the Shah was implicated in his death.[5][21]

References
  1. Abbas Milani (2008). Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979: In Two Volumes. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-8156-0907-0.
  2. "Centers of Power in Iran" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. May 1972. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  3. Ebrahim Hadidi. "Field Martial Mohammad Khatami". Institute for Iranian History. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  4. "Golden Crown History". IIAF. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  5. Fakhreddin Azimi (2009). Quest for democracy in Iran: a century of struggle against authoritarian rule. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-674-02036-8.
  6. Hossein Fardoust; Ali Akbar Dareini (1998). The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein Fardust. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 123. ISBN 978-81-208-1642-8.
  7. Ibrahim Hadidi (1 December 2011). "New: Contemporary History: 19 August 1953 Coup". Iran Review. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  8. Kenneth Love (16 August 1953). "Shah Flees Iran After Move to Dismiss Mossadegh Fails". The New York Times. Baghdad. Reuters. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  9. Houchang E. Chehabi (Autumn 2002). "A Political History of Football in Iran". Iranian Studies. 35 (4): 388. doi:10.1080/14660970600615328. S2CID 144616657.
  10. Mahmud Mirza Hosseini. "Field Martial Mohammad Khatami". IICHS. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  11. Roham Alvandi (2012). "Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: the origins of Iranian primacy in the Persian Gulf". Diplomatic History. 36 (2): 337–372. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.2011.01025.x. JSTOR 44376155.
  12. "IIAF History". IIAF. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  13. Steven R. Ward (2014). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-1626160323.
  14. "New Air Force Chief in Iran". The New York Times. Tehran. Reuters. 14 September 1975. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  15. Ahmed S. Hashim (2021). "Iran: Imperial and Republican Civil–Military Relations". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1828. ISBN 978-0-19-022863-7.
  16. "Fatemeh Pahlevi Dies at 58, A Half Sister to Shah of Iran". The New York Times. AP. 3 June 1987. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  17. Edgar Burke Inlow (1979). Shahanshah: The Study of Monarchy of Iran. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 91. ISBN 978-81-208-2292-4.
  18. "Shah engaged". Toledo Blade. 23 November 1960. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  19. Hooshmand Mirfakhraei (1984). The Imperial Iranian Armed Forces and the Revolution of 1978-1979 (PhD thesis). State University of New York at Buffalo. p. 211. ProQuest 303350420.
  20. Manouchehr Ganji (2002). Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance. Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-275-97187-8.
  21. Gholamali Haddad Adel; Mohammad Jafar Elmi; Hassan Taromi-Rad, eds. (2012). Pahlavi Dynasty: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. London: EWI Press Ltd. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-908433-01-5.
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