Ali Akbar Moinfar ( fa, علی‌اکبر معین‌فر; 14 January 1928 – 2 January 2018) was an Iranian politician and the first oil minister of the

Islamic Republic of 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 Turkmeni ...

, serving briefly from 1979 to 1980. He later served as a member of the

Parliament of Iran The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

from 1980 to 1984, representing Tehran, Rey and Shemiranat.

Early life and education

Moinfar was born in Tehran on 14 January 1928. He graduated from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

with a degree in structural engineering in 1951. He furthered his studies in seismic engineering under Professor Seiji Naito in

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

, Japan. He was a founding member of the

Islamic Association of Engineers The Islamic Association of Engineers ( fa, انجمن اسلامی مهندسین, anǰoman-e eslāmī-ye mohandesīn) is a civic and professional association in Iran founded in 1957. The organization is a platform for Islamic modernist activist ...

Career

Moinfar worked at the plan and budget organization during the reign of

Shah 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 ...

. He had connections with the Freedom of Iran movement, which was led by

Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan ( fa, مهدی بازرگان; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government. He was appointed prime minister in February 1979 by Aya ...

. However, this link was not formal, and he never attached himself to the movement. Following the

1979 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 dynas ...

, Moinfar became one of the members of the

Revolutionary Council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

. He also acted as the spokesman of the council. He was named minister of budget and planning to the

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

headed by Mehdi Bazargan. In September 1979, Moinfar was appointed oil minister in a cabinet reshuffle, becoming the first oil minister of Iran, when the office was established. He was also appointed chairman and managing director of the

National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; fa, شرکت ملّی نفت ایران, Sherkat-e Melli-ye Naft-e Īrān) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum o ...

(NIOC), replacing

Hasan Nazih Hasan Nazih ( fa, حسن نزیه) (1921–2012) was an Iranian civil rights lawyer and politician. Following the Islamic revolution in Iran he briefly served as the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) between February and September 1 ...

in the post. Moinfar continued to serve as oil minister after the resignation of the interim government of Bazargan in November 1979. He also won a parliamentary seat in the 1980 general elections. However, he was harshly criticized by the fundamentalists for removing 'only committed Muslims' rather than leftists from the ministry. In the Majlis Moinfar was one of the supporters of

Abolhassan Banisadr Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abo ...

together with

Ebrahim Yazdi Ebrahim Yazdi ( fa, ابراهیم یزدی; 26 September 1931 – 27 August 2017) was an Iranian politician, pharmacist, and diplomat who served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Mehdi Bazar ...

Yadollah Sahabi Yadollah Sahabi (25 February 1905 – 12 April 2002) was a prominent Iranian scholar, writer, reformist and politician. A close associate of Mohammad Mosaddegh and Mehdi Bazargan, Sahabi was an active campaigner for the nationalization of the Ir ...

and Ahmad Sadre. Due to his support he also experienced attacks at the Majlis. Moinfar's tenure as oil minister lasted until September 1980 when

Mohammad Ali Rajai Mohammad-Ali Rajai ( fa, محمدعلی رجائی; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was the second president of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981 after serving as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also minister of foreign affairs ...

formed the cabinet. Ashgar Ibrahimi was nominated to succeed Moinfar as oil minister. However, Ibrahimi did not get necessary vote at the

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

, and Mohammad Javad Tondguyan became the oil minister. Moinfar served as a parliament member until 1984. He was beaten by nearly ten conservative members of the parliament in 1983. He ran for office in the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in 1996, but his candidacy was rejected by the

Guardian Council The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...

Later years and death

Moinfar never left Iran except to visit his children who lived overseas. He was an honorary member of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering. Moinfar died on 2 January 2018 in Tehran, 12 days before his 90th birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moinfar, Ali Akbar 20th-century Iranian engineers 20th-century Iranian politicians 1928 births 2018 deaths Council of the Islamic Revolution members Freedom Movement of Iran MPs Members of the 1st Islamic Consultative Assembly Members of the Association for Defense of Freedom and the Sovereignty of the Iranian Nation Members of the National Council for Peace Oil ministers of Iran People of the Iranian Revolution People from Tehran