Karim Sanjabi

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Karim Sanjabi was an Iranian Liberal political leader of the 20th century.

He served as minister of education under Mossadegh in 1952. After the CIA-MI6 coup'etat that overthrow Mossadegh's regime and re-installed Mohammad Reza Shah on the throne, Sanjabi became a prominent opponent of the Shah's dictatorial rule. As the leader of the Iran National Front during the revolutionary uprising of 1978-1979, Sanjabi and his colleagues initially wished to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Shah, but in November 1978, he declared his support for Ayatollah Khomeini, who at the time was extremely popular amongst the religious masses. After the overthrow of the Monarchy on February 11, 1979, Sanjabi served as the foreign minister of the new Islamic Republic for a brief period until April 1979. After this, he became an opponent of Khomeini's regime and he fled Iran in 1982. He died in 1995.