SAVAK
SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar ordered its dissolution during the climax of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. SAVAK had 5,000 agents at its peak. Gholam Reza Afkhami estimates SAVAK staffing at between 4,000 and 6,000. ''Time'' magazine's 19 February 1979 publication also states that it had 5,000 members.SAVAK: "Like the CIA". Feb. 19, 1979 . History 1957–1971 After the1953 Ira ...
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Nasser Moghaddam
Lieutenant General Nasser Moghaddam ( fa, ناصر مقدم; 24 June 1921 – 11 April 1979) was the fourth and last chief of SAVAK (6 June 1978 – 12 February 1979). He succeeded General Nematollah Nassiri, who was arrested by the Shah's order in 1978. Moghaddam was convicted for corruption and sentenced to death under Ayatollah Khomeini's order on 11 March 1979, along with Nassiri and Nassiri's predecessor, Hassan Pakravan. Early life Nasser Moghaddam was born in 1921, in Tehran, Qajar Iran. He studied at the military high school, and went on to study law at the Faculty of Tehran University. Until the age of 10, Nasser grew up with his father, and until 1935, for some reason, he lived with his uncle Hussein (mother's brother), who did not treat Nasser very well. So he decided to return home. In 1928, he entered the primary school and in 1934, the military school of Tehran, which he graduated from in 1940. In the last year of Reza Shah's reign, in 1941, he enrolled in the Offi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nematollah Nassiri
Nematollah Nassiri ( fa, نعمتالله نصیری; 4 August 1910 – 15 February 1979) was the director of SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency during the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and later the Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan. He was one of the 438 individuals who were arrested and executed in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution. Early life and education Nematollah Nassiri was born on 4 August 1910 in Sangussar, near Semnan. He was a rumored adherent of the Bahá’í Faith, despite denials by the religion of him being a Bahá’í. He received secondary education in Tehran. In 1929, he was enrolled in an army officer school. Nassiri was a classmate of then-Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which in turn played an important role in his career. Career activities Nassiri began his career in the rank of lieutenant of the 2nd class (rank), quickly moving forward in the ranks of the service in the ground forces. In 1949, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel Na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various Organizations of the Iranian Revolution, leftist and Islamist organizations. After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Pahlavi had aligned with the United States and the Western Bloc to rule more firmly as an authoritarian monarch. He relied heavily on support from the United States to hold on to power which he held for a further 26 years. This led to the 1963 White Revolution and the arrest and exile of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1964. Amidst massive tensions between Khomeini and the Shah, demonstrations began in Octob ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Teymur Bakhtiar
Teymur Bakhtiar ( fa, تیمور بختیار; 1914 – 12 August 1970) was an Iranian general and the founder and head of SAVAK from 1956 to 1961 when he was dismissed by the Shah. In 1970, SAVAK agents assassinated him in Iraq. He was an asset in the British military network in Iran. Early life Bakhtiar was born in 1914 to Sardar Moazzam Bakhtiari, a chieftain of the eminent Bakhtiari tribe. He studied at a French school in Beirut (many Iranians were Francophiles at the time: e. g. Amir Abbas Hoveyda and General Hassan Pakravan) from 1928 to 1933, whereupon he was accepted to the renowned Saint-Cyr military academy. After returning to Iran, he graduated from Tehran's Military Academy. His cousin, Shapour Bakhtiar, and he went together to both Beirut and Paris for higher education. Then he was made a first lieutenant and dispatched to Zahedan. Bakhtiar's first wife was Iran Khanom, the daughter of the Bakhtiari chieftain Sardar-e Zafar. At that time, the Bakhtiaris we ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October 1967 , predecessor = Reza Shah , successor = ''Monarchy abolished''Ruhollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader , birth_date = , birth_place = Tehran, Sublime State of Persia , death_date = , death_place = Cairo, Egypt , burial_place = 29 July 1980Al-Rifa'i Mosque, Cairo, Egypt , spouse = , issue = , regnal name = Mohammad Reza Shah fa, محمدرضا شاه , native_lang1 = Alma mater , native_lang1_name1 = , house = Pahlavi , father = Reza Shah , mother = Tadj ol-Molouk , religion = Twelver Shi’ism , signature = , module = Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hassan Pakravan
Hassan Pakravan (4 August 1911 – 11 April 1979) was a well-known diplomat and minister in the Pahlavi pre-revolutionary government of Iran. He is not only notable for his political involvement with the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi government and SAVAK, but also his relationship with Ruhollah Khomeini. Early life and education Hassan Pakravan, son of Fathollah and Emineh, was born in Tehran on 4 August 1911 ( 13 Mordad 1290 AP). His father held many high government posts, including governor of Khorasan Province and ambassador to Italy. His mother, partly of European descent, was a professor at the University of Tehran. She was awarded the prestigious French Prix Rivarol, which the French government gives to foreign authors who write directly in French. She was related to the Habsburg rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. As a child, Pakravan accompanied his parents to Cairo, where his father was appointed diplomatic agent. There, he received his primary education at the Lycée F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1953 Iranian Coup D'état
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état ( fa, کودتای ۲۸ مرداد), was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 19 August 1953. It was aided by the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project or "Operation Ajax") and the United Kingdom (under the name "Operation Boot"). The clergy also played a considerable role. Mosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now part of BP), in order to verify that AIOC was paying the contracted royalties to Iran, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves. Upon the AIOC's refusal to co-operate with the Iranian government, the parliament ( Majlis) voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country. After this vote, Britain instigated a worldwid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the end of the Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's first supreme leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989. Khomeini was born in Khomeyn, in what is now Iran's Markazi province. His father was murdered in 1903 when Khomeini was two years old. He began studying the Quran and Arabic from a young age and was assiste ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prime Ministry Intelligence Office
Prime Ministry Intelligence Office ( fa, دفتر اطلاعات نخستوزیری) was an Intelligence agency in Iran directly subordinated to the Prime Minister's Office. The agency was formed after Iranian Revolution to be successor to the dissolved SAVAK, and turned into Ministry of Intelligence in 1984. The office was founded by Khosrow Tehrani, and after an agreement with Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was mainly focused on foreign intelligence and counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot .... References Government agencies established in 1980 Government agencies disestablished in 1984 Organisations of the Iranian Revolution Defunct Iranian intelligence agencies {{iran-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Norman Schwarzkopf Sr
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (; August 28, 1895 – November 25, 1958) was the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. He is best known for his involvement in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. He was the father of General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the commander of all Coalition forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Early life Schwarzkopf was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Julius George Schwarzkopf and Agnes Sarah Schmidt, of Germany. He graduated from Barringer High School. He received an appointment from Walter I. McCoy to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated in 1917 and served in World War I. Career Military service and New Jersey State Police After receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the cavalry, Schwarzkopf was sent to Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was gassed with mustard gas, making him susceptible to respiratory illnesses for the rest of his life. During the occupation, he served as a provost ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siahkal Incident
The Siahkal incident ( fa, رویداد سیاهکل) or Siahkal movement ( fa, جنبش سیاهکل) refers to a guerrilla operation against Pahlavi government organized by Iranian People's Fadaee Guerrillas that happened near Siahkal town in Gilan on February 8, 1971. The guerrillas attacked a gendarmerie post at Siahkal, killing three policemen and freeing two previously arrested guerrillas. Thirteen men were convicted and executed for the incident, including two who were in prison at the time. The event marks the beginning of the guerrilla era in Iran for most historians — an era which ended with the Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna .... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |