Government of Haj Ali Razmara

33rd Cabinet of Pahlavi Iran
Prime Minister Haj Ali Razmara
Date formed26 June 1950 (1950-06-26)
Date dissolved11 March 1951 (1951-03-11)
People and organisations
Head of stateMohammad Reza Pahlavi
Head of governmentHaj Ali Razmara
Total no. of members10
Opposition partyNational Front
Opposition leaderMohammad Mosaddegh
History
Advice and consent4 July 1950
10 July 1950
PredecessorGovernment of Ali Mansur
SuccessorGovernment of Hossein Ala'

The cabinet led by Haj Ali Razmara was formed on 26 June 1950[1] and succeeded the cabinet led by Ali Mansur who was in office between April and June 1950.[2] Razmara was a lieutenant general at the imperial army and was serving as the chief of the general staff when he was appointed by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the prime minister.[3] It was the 33rd[4] and first military cabinet in Iran since 1924.[1] Behrooz Moazami also argues that it was one of the cabinets which did not follow the political agenda of the Shah in addition to the cabinets of Mohammad Mosaddegh and those of Ahmad Qavam in the Pahlavi rule.[5] The Razmara cabinet ended on 11 March 1951 three days after the assassination of the prime minister.

Consent and opposition

Razmara planned to present his cabinet to the Majlis on 27 June, but he could not because of the protests of the National Front members, including Mohammad Mosaddegh, Mozzafar Baghai and Hossein Makki.[6] Eventually, the cabinet was confirmed by the Majlis on 4 July 1950 receiving 97 votes in favor against 7 votes.[3] It was also given a vote of confidence by the Iranian Senate on 10 July albeit with protests of the senators such as Ahmad Matin-Daftari, Mohammad Tadayyon, Hossein Dadgar, Mahmoud Hessabi, and Abdol Hossein Nikpour.[6]

Prime Minister Haj Ali Razmara and his cabinet were frequently attacked by the members of National Front led by Mohammad Mosaddegh due to the cabinet's opposition to the nationalization of oil.[1] Another source for the criticisms against the cabinet was the establishment of a central trade company.[7] The bazaar members thought that the cabinet would create a controlled economy which would constraint their commercial activities.[7] Theis negative approach soon caused nationwide protests.[1] Although the opposition forces supported the nationalization of the oil, the cabinet did not advocate this proposal arguing that it was not a practical move.[8] On 3 March 1951 a report on this issue was submitted by the Prime Minister Razmara to the Majlis special oil committee.[8] The report was made public soon which led to the assassination of the Prime Minister and eventually, the end of the cabinet.[8]

List of ministers

The cabinet was consisted of the following ten members:[3]

Portfolio Minister Took office Left office Party
Prime Minister26 June 1950March 1951 Military
Minister of War26 June 1950March 1951 Military
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mahmud Salahi
26 June 195018 July 1950 
18 July 1950March 1951 
Minister of Agriculture
Ibrahim Mahdavi
26 June 1950March 1951 
Minister of Interior
Fayzollah Bahrami
26 June 1950March 1951 
Minister of Labor
Mohammad Nakhai
26 June 195028 August 1950 
Gholam Hossein Foruhar
28 August 1950March 1951 
Minister of Finance
Taqi Nasr
26 June 195024 October 1950 
Gholam Hossein Foruhar
24 October 195013 January 1951 
Minister of Health26 June 1950March 1951 
Minister of Education
Shamseddin Jazairi
26 June 1950March 1951 
Minister of National Economy
Morteza Azmudeh
26 June 195024 October 1950 
Abdullah Dafteri
24 October 1950March 1951 

Reshuffles

The cabinet saw several reshuffles. Mahmud Salahi was appointed acting foreign minister to the cabinet and replaced by Mohsen Rais on 18 July 1950.[3] Mohammad Nakhai who was appointed as labor minister was removed from the office on 28 August, and his successor was Gholam Hussain Foruhar.[3] On 3 October Taqi Nasr, minister of finance, resigned from the post which was accepted by the prime minister on the same day.[9] On 24 October Gholam Hussain Foruhar was named as finance minister, and Abdullah Dafteri replaced Morteza Azmudeh as minister of national economy.[9] Foruhar resigned from post of finance minister on 13 January 1951.[10]

End and next cabinet

The prime minister was assassinated by a member of the Fada'iyan-e Islam, Khalil Tahmasebi, in Tehran on 7 March 1951.[1][11] The cabinet was led by acting Prime Minister Khalil Fatemi until 11 March.[1][12] Although the Shah planned to appoint him to the post, due to the opposition of the National Front he could not materialize his plan, and Hossein Ala' was named as the prime minister on 11 March.[1][13] However, the cabinet of Hossein Ala' lasted only until 27 April when he resigned from office due to threats of the Fada'iyan-e Islam members[1] and the ratification of the oil nationalization bill.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hassan Mohammadi Nejad (1970). Elite-Counterelite Conflict and the Development of a Revolutionary Movement: The Case of Iranian National Front (PhD thesis). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. pp. 86–90, 92. ISBN 9798657957457. ProQuest 302536657.
  2. ^ Edward Ashley Bayne (July 1951). "Crisis of Confidence in Iran". Foreign Affairs. 29 (4): 582–583. doi:10.2307/20030863. JSTOR 20030863.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology". The Middle East Journal. 4 (4): 471. October 1950. JSTOR 4322222.
  4. ^ Amir Yahya Ayatollahi (2022). Political Conservatism and Religious Reformation in Iran (1905-1979). Reconsidering the Monarchic Legacy. (Re-)konstruktionen - Internationale und Globale Studien. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. p. 137. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-36670-4. ISBN 978-3-658-36670-4. S2CID 247580958.
  5. ^ Behrooz Moazami (2013). State, Religion, and Revolution in Iran, 1796 to the Present. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 48. doi:10.1057/9781137325860_3. ISBN 978-1-137-32588-4.
  6. ^ a b Fariborz Mokhtari (Summer 2008). "Iran's 1953 Coup Revisited: Internal Dynamics versus External Intrigue". The Middle East Journal. 62 (3): 466. doi:10.3751/62.3.15.
  7. ^ a b M. Reza Ghods (January 1993). "The Rise and Fall of General Razmara". Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (1): 31. JSTOR 4283539.
  8. ^ a b c Hormoz Mehrdad (1980). Political orientations and the style of intergroup leadership interactions: The case of Iranian political parties (PhD thesis). Ohio State University. p. 238. ISBN 979-8-205-08664-6. ProQuest 303067167.
  9. ^ a b "Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology". The Middle East Journal. 5 (1): 78. Winter 1951. JSTOR 4322247.
  10. ^ "Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology". The Middle East Journal. 5 (2): 204. Spring 1951. JSTOR 4322271.
  11. ^ "Ali Razmara". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  12. ^ Hassan Mohammadi Nejad (1970). Elite-Counterelite Conflict and the Development of a Revolutionary Movement: The Case of Iranian National Front (PhD thesis). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. p. 89. ISBN 9798657957457. ProQuest 302536657.
  13. ^ "Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State". Office of the Historian. 14 March 1951. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  14. ^ Hooshmand Mirfakhraei (1984). The Imperial Iranian armed forces and the revolution of 1978-1979 (PhD thesis). University at Buffalo. p. 93. OCLC 12037858. ProQuest 303350420.

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