Regency Council (Iran)
The Regency Council (Persian: شورای سلطنت, romanized: Šūrā-ye Salṭanat) of the Imperial State of Iran, was a nine-member body formed on 13 January 1979 by Mohammad Reza Shah to carry out his duties[1] after he left Iran amidst the Iranian Revolution and served as the symbol of his continued claim on power.[2]
The council was practically dissolved within days, when its head resigned on 22 January 1979 to meet Ayatollah Khomeini.[2]
Background
1953 Regency Council
On 28 February 1953, it was reported that in a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, the Shah had agreed that during his absence in Iran a regency council consisting of Mosaddegh, Gholamreza Pahlavi (Shah's brother) and Hossein Ala (Minister of Royal Court) should be appointed to act as the regency council.[3]
1979 Regency Council members
| # | Name[4] | Latest Office[4] | Position in the Council |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jalaleddin Tehrani | Former Senator | Head |
| 2 | Mohammad Ali Varasteh | Former Minister of Finance | Deputy |
| 3 | Shapour Bakhtiar | Prime Minister | Member |
| 4 | Mohammad Sajjadi | President of the Senate | |
| 5 | Javad Saeid | Speaker of the Parliament | |
| 6 | Gen. Abbas Gharabaghi | Chief-of-Staff of Imperial Iranian Army | |
| 7 | Aligholi Ardalan | Minister of Royal Court | |
| 8 | Abdullah Entezam | Former Chairman of National Iranian Oil Company | |
| 9 | Abdolhossein Ali Abadi | Former Prosecutor-General |
Due to the tensions between Jalaleddin Tehrani and Abbas Gharabaghi Tehrani resigned from the post.[5] He was replaced by Mohammad Ali Varasteh as the head of the council.[5]
See also
References
- R.W. Apple Jr (14 January 1979). "A Regency Council is Named to Assume Duties of the Shah". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- Ronald Koven (23 January 1979). "Head of Iranian Regency Council Resigns in Paris". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- "Chronological Summary of Events, 19 February–4 March 1953", Chronology of International Events and Documents, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 9 (5): 148, 1953, JSTOR 40545381
- Sepehr Zabir (2012). The Iranian Military in Revolution and War (RLE Iran D). CRC Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1-136-81270-5.
- 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). The London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 111. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021.