Abbas Amir-Entezam
| Abbas Amir-Entezam عباس امیرانتظام | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Prime Minister | |
|
In office 1 March 1979 – 6 November 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Preceded by | Ebrahim Yazdi |
| Succeeded by | Sadeq Tabatabaei |
| Spokesperson of the Government of Iran | |
|
In office 4 February 1979 – 6 November 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1933 (age 82–83) Tehran, Iran |
| Political party | National Front of Iran |
| Spouse(s) | Elaheh Amir-Entezam |
| Children | 3 |
| Religion | Shia Islam |
| Website | Official website of Entezam |
Abbas Amir-Entezam (Persian: عباس امیر انتظام, born 1933) was the spokesman and deputy prime minister in the Interim Cabinet of Mehdi Bazargan in 1979. In 1981 he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of spying for the U.S., a charge critics suggest was a cover for retaliation against his early opposition to theocratic government in Iran. He is now "the longest-held political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran".[1] According to Fariba Amini, as of 2006 he has "been in jail for 17 years and in and out of jail for the last ten years, altogether for 27 years."[2]
Early life and education
Entezam was born into middle-class family in Tehran in 1933.[3][4] He studied electro mechanical engineering at University of Tehran and graduated in 1955.[2]
In 1956, Entezam left Iran for study at A.S.T.E.F. Institute (Paris).[2] He then went to the U.S. and completed his postgraduate education at the University of California in Berkeley.[2]
Career
After graduation, he remained in the US and worked as an entrepreneur.[5]
Around 1970 Entezam's mother was dying and he returned to Iran to be with her. Because of his earlier political activities, the Shah's Intelligence Service would not allow him to return to the U.S. He stayed in Iran, marrying, becoming a father and developing a business in partnership with his friend and mentor, Mehdi Bazargan. In 1979, the Shah was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution. Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, recently returned to Iran, appointed Bazargan as prime minister of the provisional revolutionary government. "Bazargan asks Entezam to be the deputy prime minister and the official spokesperson for the new government." [5]
According to Entezam's website:
Following the orders of the Prime Minister, Entezam sets out to rebuild the relationship between the US and the post-revolutionary Iran. He retains diplomatic contacts with the US embassy, advocating for normalization of the relationship between the two countries.[5]
While serving as deputy prime minister in April 1979 Entezam actively advocated the retirement of army officers from the rank of brigadier general.[6] In 1979, Entezam "succeeded in having the majority of the cabinet sign a letter opposing the Assembly of Experts", which was drawing up the new theocratic constitution where democratic bodies were subordinant to clerical bodies. His theocratic opponents attacked him[1] and in August 1979 Bazargan "appointed Entezam to become Iran's ambassador to Denmark."[5]
Imprisonment
Bazargan asked Entezam, who had been serving as ambassador to Sweden, to come back quickly to Tehran.[2] After coming back to Tehran, he was arrested in December 1979[2] because of allegations based on some documents retrieved from U.S. embassy takeover, and received lifetime prison from court. He was released in 1998, but in less than 3 months,[7] he was arrested again because of an interview with Tous daily newspaper, one of the reformist newspapers of the time.
In smuggled letters, Entezam has related that on three separate occasions, he had been taken blindfolded to the execution chamber - once being kept "there two full days while the Imam contemplated his death warrant." He has spent 555 days in solitary confinement, and in cells so "overcrowded that inmates took turns sleeping on the floor - each person rationed to thee hours of sleep every 24 hours." He suffered permanent ear damage, skin disease, and spinal deformities."[8] He has attacked the regimes saying
Islam is a religion of care, compassion, and forgiveness. This regime makes it a religion of destruction, death, and torture.[8]
He has always denied all the allegations that have been put against him in his trial and asks for a retrial.
Awards and honors
- Bruno Kreisky Prize (1998)
- Jan Karski Award for Moral Courage (2003)
See also
References
- 1 2 Burning candle. Honoring Abbas Amir-Entezam on the 25th anniversary of his arrest Iranian, Masoud Kazemzadeh, 21 December 2004
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Amini, Fariba (24 February 2006). "Perseverance and honor: Interview with Abbas Amir-Entezam". Payvand. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ↑ Kadivar, Darius (19 September 2010). "Abbas Amir Entezam IRI's First Ambassador to Sweden (1979)". Iranian. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ↑ John H. Lorentz (1 April 2010). The A to Z of Iran. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-8108-7638-5. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 The official web site of Mr. Entezam click on Biography
- ↑ Roberts, Mark (January 1996). "Purge of the Monarchists". McNair Papers (47-48). Retrieved 29 August 2013. – via Questia (subscription required)
- ↑ E. P. Rakel (2008). "Factional rivalries and Iranian foreign policy". The Iranian political elite, state and society relations, and foreign relations since the Islamic revolution. University of Amsterdam. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- 1 2 Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran Ervand Abrahamian, University of California Press, 1999, p. 140
External links
- Time: Stalking the Conspirators, 28 July 1980