Mohammad Javad Bagher Tondguyan ( fa, محمدجواد تندگویان; 16 June 1950 – 16 December 1991) was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

engineer and petroleum minister under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 fro ...

from 2 September to 3 November 1980 when he was captured by the Iraqi forces in November 1980 during Iran-Iraq war.

Early life and education

Tondguyan was born on 16 June 1950. He was involved in opposition movement against

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 Octobe ...

in 1967 and was detained and interrogated by the SAVAK. During this period he met

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...

. From 1968 to 1972 Tondguyan studied oil engineering at the Abadan Technologic Institute, now

Petroleum University of Technology The Petroleum University of Technology ( fa, دانشگاه صنعت نفت) is an Iranian public university funded by the Ministry of Petroleum particularly by its main company, the NIOC. It was founded in 1939 in Abadan in response to the inc ...

, where he was head of the Islamic Association. The association hosted

Ali Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani ( fa, علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intell ...

, one of the philosophical and political leaders of 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 ...

, as a speaker during the 1960s and 1970s. Tondguyan was also one of the figures who disseminated the views of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in

Abadan Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...

during this period.

Career

Following his graduation, Tondguyan began to work in the Tehran refinery. Then he worked for various oil companies in Iran until the 1979 revolution. After the revolution, he was appointed deputy science minister. In September 1980, Tondguyan was named oil minister replacing

Ali Akbar Moinfar 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, serving briefly from 1979 to 1980. He later served as a member o ...

in the post and served in the cabinet of

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 fro ...

. His successor as the minister of oil was

Mohammad Gharazi Mohammad Gharazi ( fa, محمد غرضی, also spelled ''Mohammad Qarazi'') is an Iranian politician who served as minister of petroleum from 1981 to 1985 and minister of post from 1985 to 1997. He was also a member of the Iranian Parliament from ...

Captivity and death

Tondguyan was captured by the Iraqi forces on his tour to the fronts on the Abadan road in

Khuzestan Province Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

on 3 November 1980 at the initial phase of the Iran-Iraq war which lasted from 1980 to 1988. His deputy and a ministry official were also captured with him. They were reportedly taken to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. In October 1990, the Iraqi officials stated that he committed suicide two years after his captivity. In November 1990, his wife and father denied this report. Tondguyan's body was delivered by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

to the Iran government in 1991. The committee reported that he died of torture after eleven years of detention in Iraqi prisons.

Personal life

Tondguyan was married and had four children.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tondguyan, Mohammad Javad 20th-century Iranian engineers 20th-century Iranian politicians 1950 births 1991 deaths Iran–Iraq War prisoners of war Iranian prisoners of war Iranian torture victims National Iranian Oil Company people Oil ministers of Iran Petroleum engineers Prisoners of war held by Iraq Petroleum University of Technology alumni