Ali Akbar Moinfar

Ali Akbar Moinfar
Oil Minister
In office
September 1979  September 1980
Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Mohammad Javad Baqer Tondguyan
Personal details
Nationality Iranian
Religion Islam

Ali Akbar Moinfar is an Iranian politician and the first oil minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Early life and education

Moinfar is the brother of journalist Mehdi Moinfar.[1] He studied seismology in Japan.[2][3]

Career

Moinfar worked at the plan and budget organization during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[4] He had connections with the Freedom of Iran movement, which was led by Mehdi Bazargan.[4] However, this link was not formal and he never attached himself to the movement.[5] Following the 1979 revolution, Moinfar became one of the members of the Revolutionary Council.[2][6][7] He also acted as the spokesman of the council.[8] He was named minister of budget and planning to the interim government headed by Mehdi Bazargan.[9]

In September 1979, Moinfar was appointed oil minister in a cabinet reshuffle, becoming the first oil minister of Iran in September 1979,[10][11] when the office was established.[4][12] He was also appointed chairman and managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), replacing Hasan Nazih.[4][13]

Moinfar continued to served as minister after the resignation of the interim government of Bazargan in November 1979. He also won a parliamentary seat in the 1980 general elections.[5] However, he was harshly criticized by the fundamentalists for removing ‘only committed Moslems’ rather than leftists from the ministry.[14] Moinfar's tenure lasted until September 1980 when Mohammad Ali Rajai formed the cabinet.[15] Ashgar Ibrahimi was nominated to succeed Moinfar as oil minister.[15] However, Ibrahimi did not get necessary vote at the Majlis, and Mohammad Javad Baqer Tondguyan became the oil minister.[16]

Moinfar served as a parliament member until 1984. He was beaten by nearly ten members of the parliament in 1983.[17] He run for office in the 1996 elections, but his candidacy was rejected by the Guardian Council.[18]

Later years

Moinfar later left Iran.[19] He is one of the honorary members of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering.[20]

References

  1. Hossein Shahidi (11 May 2007). Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Oka, Takashi (17 January 1980). "Japan agonizes over joining West against Iran, USSR". The Christian Science Monitor (Tokyo). Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  3. "Iranian oil officials threatened with purge". Edmonton Journal. 2 October 1979. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Shaul Bakhash (1982). The Politics of Oil and Revolution in Iran: A Staff Paper. Brookings Institution Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8157-1776-8. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Bahman Baktiari (1996). Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. p. 69.   via Questia (subscription required)
  6. Hossein Amirsadeghi (23 April 2012). The Security of the Persian Gulf (RLE Iran A). Routledge. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-415-61050-6. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  7. Rubin, Barry (1980). Paved with Good Intentions. New York: Penguin Books. p. 283.
  8. "Bani Sadr: US should admit Iran crimes". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 29 January 1980. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  9. "Iran leader fires national oil firm head". St. Petersburg Times (London). AP. 29 September 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  10. Hossein Shahidi. Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  11. Hosseini, Mir M. "5 February 1979 A.D.: Bazargan Becomes Prime Minister". Fouman. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  12. "Oil chief replaced". The Glasgow Herald (Tehran). 29 September 1979. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  13. Dilip Hiro (1987). Iran Under the Ayatollahs. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7102-1123-1. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  14. "The Economy according to Islam". New Internationalist. 1 September 1980. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Bani Sadr disowns most of long-awaited cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 1 September 1980. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  16. "Joint Crisis: Supreme Defense Council of Iran, 1980". Harvard Model United Nations. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  17. Reza Haghighat Nejad (19 August 2013). "“Put That Gun In Your Pocket!” The 10 Most Embarrassing Moments in Iran's Parliament". Iran Wire. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  18. "Human Rights and Parliamentary Elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran". Human Rights Watch 8 (1). March 1996. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  19. Sreberny-Mohammadi, Annabelle; Ali Mohammadi (January 1987). "Post-Revolutionary Iranian Exiles: A Study in Impotence". Third World Quarterly 9 (1): 108–129. doi:10.1080/01436598708419964.
  20. "Letter to Giorgio Napolitano". The European Association for Earthquake Engineering. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2013.