Timsar

Abdol Ali Badrei
Born(1921-03-29)29 March 1921
Kermanshah, Qajar Iran
Died11 February 1979(1979-02-11) (aged 57)
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
AllegianceImperial Iranian Army
Service/branch
  • Imperial Guard
  • Imperial Ground Forces
Years of service1941–1979
RankLieutenant General
Commands held
Other work
Cause of deathShooting

Abdol Ali Badrei (29 March 1921 – 11 February 1979) was an Iranian lieutenant general and the last commander of the Imperial Iranian Army and the Imperial Guard. He was one of the hardline senior military officers[1] and was assassinated during the course of the regime change in Iran.

Early life and education

Badrei was born in Kermanshah on 29 March 1921.[2] He graduated from the military academy in Kermanshah and Tehran.[2]

Career

After graduation, Badrei joined the Imperial army as lieutenant in the Mounted Infantry.[2] His first mission was in 1946 to fight against rebels in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan Province.[2] Then he joined the imperial guards in 1946.[2] In 1967, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and served as second in command in the guards.[2] In 1971, he became a major general and was appointed commander of the immortal guards in 1973.[2] In 1975, he was made lieutenant general and was appointed commander of the imperial guards in 1976.[2]

In February 1979 Badrei publicly stated that the army would not follow the orders of Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar.[3] Instead of being reprimanded by the Shah due to these remarks, he was named commander of the ground forces on 10 January,[1] succeeding Gholam Ali Oveissi, who had resigned from office and left Iran.[4][5] Badrei formed a group to carry a military coup on 10 February, just before the Iranian revolution.[6] He served in the post of the Imperial Ground Forces commander until his death on 11 February.[6]

Death

Badrei was assassinated on 11 February 1979 on the Sultanabad barracks which was the army headquarters in Tehran.[7][8] He was leading the troops of the Imperial Ground Forces loyal to the Shah which were fighting against armed civilians who were the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini when he was murdered.[9] Scheherezade Faramarzi argued in 2019 that the murderer of Badrei was a teenager who was not aware of his identity.[7] Upon his assassination the Imperial army was easily disintegrated by the Islamic government.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Jean-Charles Brotons (2010). U.S. Officials and the Fall of the Shah: Some Safe Contraction Interpretations. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. pp. 69, 74. ISBN 978-0-7391-3340-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Biography". Badrei website. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Mark J. Roberts (January 1996). "Khomenei's incorporation of the Iranian military" (PDF). National Defense University. Archived from the original (McNair Paper 48) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "A chronology of the Iranian Revolution (1978-79)". Derkelier. August 2008. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Key Iranian General Defects". Fort Lauderdale News. 10 January 1979. p. 6. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 Mohammad Sahimi (3 February 2010). "The Ten Days that Changed Iran". PBS. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 Scheherezade Faramarzi (11 February 2019). "Remembering Iran's Revolutionary Days". Lobe Log. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Thomas C. Reed; Danny B. Stillman (2008). "Revisiting the Seventies The Third World Comes of Age". IFQ. 51: 152. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022.
  9. 1 2 Javier Gil Guerrero (2016). The Carter Administration and the Fall of Iran's Pahlavi Dynasty. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 184. doi:10.1057/9781137598738_10. ISBN 978-1-349-88805-4.
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