Taher Ahmadzadeh
Taher Ahmadzadeh | |
|---|---|
 From left Taher Ahmadzade, Kazem Akhavan Mar'ashi, Ali Khamenei in 1979 Iranian Revolution | |
| Governor of Khorasan Province | |
| In office February 1979 – September 1980 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Preceded by | Sadegh Amir-Azizi |
| Succeeded by | Hassan Ghafourifard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 May 1921[1] Mashhad, Iran[1] |
| Died | 30 November 2017 (aged 96) Mashhad, Iran |
| Political party | Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran (2000–2017)[2] Freedom Movement of Iran (1961–1980s) National Front (1950s–1961) |
| Nickname | Agha Taher (among friends)[3] |
Taher Ahmadzadeh Heravi (Persian: طاهر احمدزاده هروی; 22 May 1921[4] – 30 November 2017) was an Iranian nationalist-religious political activist who held office as the first governor of Khorasan Province after the Iranian Revolution.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Ahmadzadeh was of Afghan descent.[5] His father was a wealthy Shia from the city of Herat, Afghanistan who migrated to Iran.[3] Ahmadzadeh studied secondary education and was considered a small landowner in his birthplace Mashhad.[1]
Career[edit]
Ahmadzadeh was an active opposition to Pahlavi dynasty since the early 1950s and hailed as the "symbol of heroic resistance against SAVAK", spending 10 years in prison under the regime.[6] Considered a well-known nationalist and a prominent leader in Mashhad,[7] he co-founded a Mossadeghist and religious organization called the 'Center for the Publication of Islamic Truths' along with Mohammad-Taqi Shariati, father of Ali Shariati.[8] He joined National Front's 'National Resistance Movement' in Khorasan after the 1953 coup d'état and served as a member of central committee of its provincial branch, though not affiliated with any particular political party.[9] Working closely with Mehdi Bazargan for almost four decades, he also helped him found the Freedom Movement of Iran.[6]
After Iranian Revolution in 1979, Bazargan nominated him as the governor of Khorasan Province. Ahmadzadeh initially rejected the appointment, on the grounds that Ruhollah Khomeini has installed Abbas Vaez-Tabasi as the costudian of Astan Quds Razavi and he should maintain the former position as well. He was ousted soon after resignation of Bazargan.[5] According to Ervand Abrahamian, he was tagged "liberal"[6] and a "sympathizer of the Mojahedin"[10] at the time.
In June 1981, he started to openly criticizing the clergy for "monopolizing power".[6] Sobsequently, Ahmadzadeh was imprisoned in Evin Prison and in 1983 he was forced to confess in a televised program called "roundtable discussions". He was released four years later.[6] Ahmadzadeh was detained again in 2000, when he was 80.[11]
Personal life[edit]
His sons Masoud and Majid, as well as his daughter Mastureh were among leading members of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas. His youngest son, Mojtaba, was a sympathizer of the People's Mujahedin of Iran and was executed during 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Mehrzad Boroujerdi (1996). Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism. Syracuse University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8156-0433-4.
- ^ Muhammad Sahimi (13 July 2009), "Hunger Strike at UN", Tehran Bureau, PBS, retrieved 1 December 2017
- ^ a b Ali Rahnema (2000). An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shariati. I.B.Tauris. p. 18. ISBN 1860645526.
- ^ https://www.nedayeazadi.net/1401/03/39700
- ^ a b Adelkhah, Fariba (2015). The Thousand and One Borders of Iran: Travel and Identity. Iranian Studies. Vol. 27. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 1317418972.
- ^ a b c d e Abrahamian, Ervand (1999). Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran. University of California Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780520216235.
- ^ Vahabzadeh, Peyman (2010). Guerrilla Odyssey: Modernization, Secularism, Democracy, and the Fadai Period of National Liberation In Iran, 1971-1979. Syracuse University Press. p. 22.
- ^ Ali Rahnema (2000). An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shariati. I.B.Tauris. p. 18. ISBN 1860645526.
- ^ Ali Rahnema (2000). An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shariati. I.B.Tauris. pp. 21, 55. ISBN 1860645526.
- ^ Ervand Abrahamian (1989), Radical Islam: the Iranian Mojahedin, Society and culture in the modern Middle East, vol. 3, I.B.Tauris, p. 188, ISBN 9781850430773
- ^ "Suppression of the Religious - Nationalist Alliance", Human Rights Watch, 2001, retrieved 1 December 2017
- ^ Fariba Amini (23 October 2006), Cries from the heart: History of torture and abuse of women in Iranian prisons, Payvand, retrieved 1 December 2017
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