Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; fa, احمد قوام), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh ( fa, قوام السلطنه), was a politician who served as

Prime Minister of Iran The Prime Minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...

five times.

Early life

Qavam was born in 1873 to a prominent

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

family with origins in Ashtian. His uncle, Amin Aldoleh, was a

. Hasan Vossug, another Prime Minister, was his older brother. Qavam served in the royal court of

Nasereddin Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

early in his career and obtained the title ''os-Saltaneh'' during the

Constitutional Revolution of Iran The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...

in 1909. The letter signed by Mozaffaredin Shah in acceptance of the Constitutional Revolution was written by Qavam, who had the title of ''Dabir-e Hozoor'' (Private Secretary) at the time. Qavam became Prime Minister several times during both the

Qajar Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

and

Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...

dynasties. Twice he played a significant role in preventing the USSR from annexing Iran's northern provinces.

Political career

Qavam was appointed governor of Khorasan Province in 1918, during which time he responded to the ongoing famine and the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

pandemic. He was a hardliner administrator and banned some of the newspapers which had been published in the region. In 1921, during the coup d'état of Tehran against the Qajar government, Tabatabaee ordered

Colonel Pessian Mohammad-Taqi Khan Pessian ( fa, محمدتقی‌خان پسیان; 1892 – 3 October 1921), more commonly known as Colonel Pessian, was an Iranian gendarme, fighter pilot and warlord who formed and led the short-lived Autonomous Government o ...

to arrest many of the opposition, among them Ahmad Qavam. However, with the fall of Tabatabaee's government and the refusal by

Mostowfi ol-Mamalek Mirza Hasan Ashtiani, commonly known by the bestowed title Mostowfi ol-Mamalek ( fa, مستوفی‌الممالک, lit=Chancellor of the Realm; 1871 – 1932) was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister on six occasions from 1910 to ...

and others to accept the position of Prime Minister due to the unstable political situation, Qavam, just released from the Ishratabad prison of Tehran, was offered the position. He accepted and became Prime Minister in circumstances so unusual that

Iraj Mirza Prince Iraj Mirza ( fa, ایرج میرزا, literally ''Prince Iraj''; October 1874 – 14 March 1926) (titled Jalāl-ol-Mamālek, fa, جلال‌الممالک), son of prince Gholam-Hossein Mirza, was a famous Iranian poet. He was a modern p ...

wrote the following verses: یکی را افکند امروز در بند
کند روز دیگر او را خداوند ''"One day in prison he is thrown,''
''another day the King's chair he'll own"'' Qavam in fact ordered the arrest of

Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabataba'i (June 1889 – 29 August 1969; fa, سید ضیاءالدین طباطبایی) was an Iranian journalist and politician who, with the help of Reza Khan Savadkuhi, led the 1921 Persian coup d'état, and subsequently ...

in an incident 25 years later. He also ordered the crackdown on the revolt of

which he crushed with the aid of

Reza Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi may refer to: * Reza Shah (1878–1944), Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran from 1925 until 1941 * Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah * Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pah ...

. Of the major events that occurred during his terms as the Prime Minister, was his invitation to

Arthur Millspaugh Arthur Chester Millspaugh, PhD, (1883–1955) was a former adviser at the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Foreign Trade, who was hired to re-organize the Finance Ministry of Iran from 1922–1927 and 1942-1945. With his help, Iran became ...

for assisting the government in its finances. Another was the riots of 1942 for economic hardship. He appointed Sepahbod Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi to restore order and end the riots, which he did forcefully. Qavam was also instrumental in the 1942 Tripartite Treaty between Iran, Russia, and Britain. He was again voted Prime Minister on 26 January 1946 with a slim margin in the Majlis of 52–51. The Majlis thought he would have the best chance of resolving the Soviet-inspired rebellion of the occupied Azerbaijan province since Qavam was the largest property owner in the region. Qavam did not disappoint. He ordered the Iranian delegation to the UN to negotiate issues pending before the Security Council directly with the Soviet delegation. He then flew to Moscow to discuss the issues personally with Stalin. When the Soviets violated the terms of the

Tripartite Pact The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive military ...

which called for all foreign military forces to be withdrawn from Iranian territory by 2 March 1946, it drew a strong rebuke from Parliamentary Whip,

Mohammed Mossadegh Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of ...

. Qavam arranged a deal with the Soviets, granting an oil concession in the North contingent on the approval of the Majlis after the elections. Under the terms of the agreement with Qavam, Soviet troops began withdrawing from Iran. When the new Majlis was seated, they immediately voted against the proposed Soviet oil concession. This earned Qavam the congenial title, "The Old Fox". It also caused significant opposition against him led by ''

Atesh ''Atash'' ( fa, آتش, lit=The Fire) was a Persian language right-wing newspaper which was published from 1946 to 1947 in Tehran, Iran. History and profile ''Atash'' was first published on 18 April 1946 as a weekly newspaper. The license holde ...

'' and its editor Mehdi Mir Ashrafi and ''

Mard-i Imruz ''Mard-i Imruz'' ( fa, مرد امروز, lit=The Man of Today) was a Persian language weekly newspaper which was in circulation between 1942 and 1948. It was based in Tehran, Iran. The paper was among the opposition publications of the period. ...

'' and its editor

Mohammad Masud Mohammad Masud (1905–1948) was an Iranian journalist and writer. He published some books and launched a weekly newspaper, '' Mard-i Imruz'' (Persian: ''The Man of Today''). He was an ardent critic of the Pahlavi rule and Ahmad Qavam. Masud was ...

who publicly argued that Qavam should be killed due to the oil deal with the Soviets.

Death

Qavam died at the age of 82 in 1955 in Tehran. He was survived by his second wife and his only son, Hossein.

References

Other sources

*T'Alí Rizā Awsatí. (2003). ''Iran in the Past Three Centuries'' (''Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh''), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing, Tehran, Iran, 2003). (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). *Hamid Shokat. (2006). ''Dar Tir Rase Hadese'', ''The political life of Qavam osSaltaneh''. Tehran, . Published by akhtaranbook (www.akhtaranbook.com)

External links