Karim Sanjabi

Karim Sanjabi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
11 February 1979 – 1 April 1979
Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan
Preceded by Ahmad Mirfendereski
Succeeded by Ebrahim Yazdi
Minister of Education
In office
19 January 1952 – 6 February 1953
Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh
Preceded by Mahmoud Hessabi
Succeeded by Mahmoud Mehran
Personal details
Born September 1904
Kermanshah, Iran
Died 4 July 1995(1995-07-04) (aged 90)
Carbondale, Illinois, United States
Nationality Iranian
Political party National Front
Other political
affiliations		 Iran Party
Motherland Party
Spouse(s) Fakhrolmolouk Ardalan Sanjabi
Children 4
Alma mater Sorbonne University, Faculty of Law
Signature

Karim Sanjabi (Persian: کریم سنجابی‎‎; September 1904 – 4 July 1995) was an Iranian politician of National Front.

Early life

He was born in Kermanshah in September 1904 to the chief of the Kurdish Sanjâbi tribe.[1] He studied law and politics at Sorbonne University. He worked as a law professor at the University of Tehran.[1]

Career

Sanjabi and Allahyar Saleh led the Iran Party, a nationalist, progressive, leftist and anti-Soviet group, in the 1950s.[2] The party became part of the National Front.[2] Sanjabi was a loyal supporter of Mohammad Mossadegh and he later served as minister of education under Mossadegh in 1952. Mossadegh had led the movement to nationalize the British-controlled oil industry in Iran (which, after nationalization, became known as the National Iranian Oil Company) and after this was accomplished, he became engaged in a heated battle with the British (who had previously controlled the oil industry and wished to reassert control over it) and with the forces rallying around Mohammad Reza Shah (the king of Iran who was opposed to Mossadegh's policies vis-a-vis the British, as well as the prime minister's efforts at limiting the Shah's power and influence). After a CIA-MI6 coup d'état overthrew Mossadegh in August 1953 and reestablished the Shah on the throne, Sanjabi, along with other Mossadegh supporters, went into opposition against the Shah's regime. He was heavily involved in the formation of the Second National Front in 1960. The reconstituted National Front was to remain active for five years, but under increasingly worsening circumstances. Despite its moderate demands for electoral reforms and a Shah that would "reign and not rule", the Shah refused to tolerate the Front's activities. His powerful security forces, most notably the infamous SAVAK, silenced the likes of Sanjabi and other secular democrats. Due to this and a variety of other factors, it had dissolved by 1965. The Front was to remain dormant until the late 1970s. It was revived in late 1977 by Sanjabi as its leader.[3]

As the general secretary of the National Front during the revolutionary uprising of 1978–1979, Sanjabi and his colleagues initially wished to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Shah. However, on 3 November 1978, he met as representative of the National Front with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in France.[4] He had gone there hoping to convince Khomeini to support the creation of a coalition government headed by the National Front. Despite the rising revolutionary fervor, Sanjabi and many other liberals had remained loyal to the idea of a constitutional monarchy with the Shah as ceremonial figurehead and they wished to bring Khomeini over to their point of view. Khomeini, however, refused to budge and reiterated his demand for the overthrow of the monarchy. In the end, Sanjabi, acting as head of the National Front, capitulated to Khomeini's demands. In addition, he accepted the leadership of Khomeini and opposed to the alliance with the Tudeh party.[5] Sanjabi emerged from his meeting "with a short declaration that spoke of both Islam and democracy as basic principles",[6] and Sanjabi declared his support for Khomeini and joined his forces.[4]

Unfortunately for this agreement, after the overthrow of the monarchy on 11 February 1979, Khomeini "explicitly refused to put the same word, democracy, into either the title of the Republic or its constitution."[6] Sanjabi served as the foreign minister of the provisional government led by Mahdi Bazargan. Sanjabi was in office from to February to April 1979.[7]

Attacks and arrests

Sanjabi's house in Tehran was bombed on 8 April 1978.[4] The underground committee for revenge, a state-financed organization, proclaimed the responsibility of the bombing.[4] He was arrested on 11 November 1978 and freed on 6 December.[4]

Personal life

Sanjabi was married to Fakhrolmolouk Ardalan Sanjabi (7 September 1921 - 21 February 2011) and had four children, three sons and a daughter.[8]

Later years and death

Sanjabi left Iran in 1982 and went to Paris.[9] Later he settled in the US.[9][10] He died on 4 July 1995 at his home in Carbondale, Illinois at the age of 90.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Saxon, Wolfang (7 July 1995). "Karim Sanjabi, Politician, 90, Foe of Shah and Islamic Militants". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 Gasiorowski, Mark J. (August 1987). "The 1953 Coup D'etat in Iran" (PDF). International Journal of Middle East Studies. 19 (3): 261–286. doi:10.1017/s0020743800056737. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Said Amir Arjomand (1988). The Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran. Oxford University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-19-504258-0. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Nikazmerad, Nicholas M. (1980). "A Chronological Survey of the Iranian Revolution". Iranian Studies. 13 (1/4): 327–368. JSTOR 4310346. doi:10.1080/00210868008701575.
  5. ↑ Milani, Mohsen M. (April 1993). "Harvest of Shame: Tudeh and the Bazargan Government". Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (2): 307–320. JSTOR 4283563. doi:10.1080/00263209308700950.
  6. 1 2 Modern Iran Nikki R. Keddie, Yann Richard p. 233
  7. ↑ Rubin, Barry (1980). Paved with Good Intentions (PDF). New York: Penguin Books. p. 287.
  8. ↑ "Fakhrolmolouk Sanjabi". The Southern. Carbondale. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Karim Sanjabi". Sarasota Herald Tribune. 7 July 1995. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Sanjabi, Karim (Dr.) (1904 - )". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

Sources

Political offices
Preceded by
Ahmad Mirfendereski		 Foreign Minister of Iran
1979 		Succeeded by
Ebrahim Yazdi
Party political offices
Preceded by
Allahyar Saleh		 Leader of National Front
1967–1988 		Succeeded by
Adib Boroumand
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