Morteza Yazdanpanah

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Morteza Yazdanpanah
Minister of War
In office
1951 – June 1952
MonarchMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime MinisterMohammad Mosaddegh
Succeeded byMahmoud Baharmast
Personal details
Born1888
Tehran
Died1970 (aged 81–82)
Spouse(s)Leyla Yazdanpanah
Alma materCossack's House
Military career
AllegianceIran
Service/branchCommander Imperial Iranian army
RankLieutenant general

Morteza Yazdanpanah (1888–1970) was an army officer who served as chief-of-staff in the Imperial Iranian army for two times, between 1941 and 1942 and in 1952. He also held other governmental and military positions during the reigns of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Early life and education[]

Yazdanpanah was born in Tehran in 1888.[1][2] His father was a colonel in the army.[2] From 1907 Morteza Yazdanpanah attended Cossack's House which trained army officers for Cossack Brigade.[1]

Career[]

Yazdanpanah was one of the close allies of Reza Shah, but later their relations became tense.[3] Yazdanpanah was the commander of the Iranian army's northern division during the coup organized by Reza Shah against Qajar dynasty in 1921.[1] The same year he was promoted to brigadier general.[2] In 1926 he was next to Reza Shah during the latter's coronation ceremony.[4] Yazdanpanah became one of the founders of Iran-e-No Party, a short-lived anticlerical political party, in 1927.[5] In 1928 he was made major general and chief inspector of the army and next year he was appointed chief commander of the gendarme.[2]

Yazdanpanah was also assigned to significant posts by the next Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[3] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in 1942.[2] He served as the minister of war between December 1951 and June 1952 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.[6] Mosaddegh asked him to retire, but Yazdanpanah did not accept his request.[7] Therefore, Yazdanpanah was dismissed from the office and replaced by Mahmoud Baharmast in the post.[7]

From June 1963 Yazdanpanah was one of the senior military advisors to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi being the head of the Imperial Inspectorate[8] and was also made senator in 1967.[1][2] He was the head of the High Council for the Coronation (Shura-yi ʿAli-yi Tajguzari) which organized the coronation ceremony of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1967.[2][4]

Personal life and death[]

Yazdanpanah's wife, Leyla, was born in Russia and her father served as the governor of Russian Azarbaijan.[2] Yazdanpanah died in 1970.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Marvin Zonis (1971). Political Elite of Iran. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0691617015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Morteza Yazdan-Panah - Isabella's Great Grandfather". Isabella Goli Yazdan Panah. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021. citing Cyrus Ghani's book, Iran and the Rise of Reza Shah, p. 166
  3. ^ a b "Centers of Power in Iran" (PDF). CIA. May 1972. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b Robert Steele (2021). "Crowning the "Sun of the Aryans": Mohammad Reza Shah's Coronation and Monarchical Spectacle in Pahlavi Iran". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 53 (2): 181. doi:10.1017/S002074382000121X.
  5. ^ Murat Yümlü (December 2016). The Reformation of the political opposition in İran (1926–1946) (PhD thesis). Middle East Technical University. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2021.
  6. ^ John P. Gilennon, ed. (1989). Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers 1952-1954. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. p. XVIII.
  7. ^ a b Darioush Bayandor (2010). Iran and the CIA. The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-230-57927-9.
  8. ^ Shaul Bakhash (2021). "The 'Officers Plot': the German fifth column during the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran in the Second World War". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: 19. doi:10.1080/13530194.2021.1962673.
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