Shamseddin Amir-Alaei (1900–August 1994) was an Iranian politician who served as both

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and justice minister in the first cabinet of

Mohammad Mosaddegh 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 ...

. He also held other government and diplomatic posts.

Early life and education

Amir-Alaei was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 1900. His father was Ali Akbar Khan Najd al Saltanah. He received a bachelor's degree in finance and administration from a European university. In 1964 he obtained his PhD in political science in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Career

Following his return to Iran Amir-Alaei worked at the Ministry of Post and then, at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. In the latter he served as a judge. In 1946 he was named as the minister of agriculture after serving as acting minister in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

led by

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 ...

Ahmad Qavam 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 five times. Early life Qavam was born in 1873 to a ...

. At the beginning of 1950s he was appointed governor of Gilan during the premiership of

Ali Razmara Ali Razmara, also known as Haj Ali Razmara ( fa, حاجیعلی رزم‌آرا, Ḥājī`alī Razmārā; 30 March 1901 – 7 March 1951), was a military leader and prime minister of Iran. He was assassinated by 26-year-old Khalil Tahmasse ...

. Razmara's successor

Hossein Ala' Hosein Alā ( fa, حسین علاء; 13 December 1881 – 12 July 1964) was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister in 1951 and from 1955 to 1957. Background He was born in 1882 in Tehran and spent his early years in London. He was ed ...

named Amir-Alaei as minister of justice in March 1951. Amir-Alaei joined the National Front established by Mohammad Mosaddegh and was one of the individuals who signed the Charter of the Front in February 1949. Amir-Alaei held several

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

positions during Mossadegh's premiership. He was the minister of interior in the first cabinet of Mosaddegh and the minister of justice in his second cabinet. Then he was appointed by Mosaddegh as the ambassador of Iran to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In May 1955 Amir-Alaei and four other political figures, including

Bagher Kazemi Sayyed Bagher Khan Muhazab Al Dawleh Kazemi also known as Bagher Kazemi ( fa, باقر کاظمی; 10 February 1892–10 November 1977), was an Iranian politician, diplomat and minister. He served as Iran's ambassador to several countries, includin ...

, who were all close to Mosaddegh were arrested on the orders of the military governor of Tehran,

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 as ...

. Following the

regime change Regime change is the partly forcible or coercive replacement of one government regime with another. Regime change may replace all or part of the state's most critical leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy. Regime change may ...

in Iran in 1979 Amir-Alaei was appointed ambassador of Iran to France, but he resigned from the post in 1980 due to his conflict with the foreign minister,

Sadegh Ghotbzadeh Sadegh Ghotbzadeh ( fa, صادق قطب‌زاده, 24 February 1936 – 15 September 1982) was an Iranian politician who served as a close aide of Ayatollah Khomeini during his 1978 exile in France, and foreign minister (30 November 1979 – ...

. Later Amir-Alaei became an opposition leader.

Death and funeral

Amir-Alaei died in a car accident outside his home in August 1994 which is considered by the Iranian opposition as mysterious. His funeral ceremony was held on 11 August 1994, and he was buried in Behesht e Zahra cemetery. During his funeral another leading opposition figure,

Dariush Forouhar Dariush Forouhar ( fa, داریوش فروهر; 1928 – 21 November 1998) was an Iranian pan-Iranist politician and leader of Nation Party of Iran. Early life Forouhar was born in Isfahan. His father was a general in the Army who was arreste ...

, was abducted by the Iranian intelligence personnel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amir Alaei, Shamseddin 20th-century diplomats 20th-century Iranian politicians 1900 births 1994 deaths Ambassadors of Iran to Belgium Ambassadors of Iran to France Burials at Behesht-e Zahra Interior Ministers of Iran Iranian dissidents Iranian governors Iranian prisoners and detainees Ministers of Justice of Iran National Front (Iran) politicians Politicians from Tehran Road incident deaths in Iran