Jahangir Tafazzoli
Born1914
Mashhad, Qajar Iran
Died20 December 1990 (aged 75–76)
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
OccupationJournalist
Years active1940s–1970s

Jahangir Tafazzoli (1914–1990) was an Iranian journalist and government official during the Pahlavi period. He held various official posts and established a newspaper entitled Iran-e Ma (Persian: Our Iran). He committed suicide on 20 December 1990.[1]

Early life and education

Tafazzoli was born in Mashhad in 1914.[2][3] His father was Gholamreza Mossadegh Al Sultan.[2] After completing his primary education, he graduated from Ferdowsi High School in Mashhad and received a bachelor's degree in literature from the University of Tehran.[2]

Career and activities

Tafazzoli started his career as a teacher at Iranshahr High School in Yazd.[2] He joined the Tudeh Party and was a representative of its youth organization.[2] He launched and edited a newspaper, Iran-e Ma, in Tehran which was first published on 11 June 1943.[3][4] Through his paper Tafazzoli laid basis of his political career, but also he was arrested and detained during World War II due to his activities in the paper based on the allegations that he and others related to the paper were collaborating with the Nazis.[3]

Tafazzoli was close to Ashraf Pahlavi and Abdolhossein Hazhir and was trusted by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[3] During the premiership of Abdolhossein Hazhir he briefly served as the deputy prime minister.[2] From 1954 to 1960 Tafazzoli was the Iranian official responsible for the Iranian university students in Europe.[3][5] He was also named as the representative of Iran at UNESCO which he held until 1960.[3]

Tafazzoli was appointed minister without portfolio and the head of press and broadcasting department in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Asadollah Alam in 1962.[6] He was reappointed minister of state on 19 February 1963 when Alam formed his second cabinet and remained in office until the end of the cabinet term in March 1964.[7][8] During this period Tafazzoli was a member of the Majlis in the 18th term representing Birjand for the People's Party led by Asadollah Alam.[2] Tafazzoli was named by Alam as a member of the board of directors of the export bank, Bank Saderat.[5]

Tafazzoli was the ambassador of Iran to Algeria between 1969 and 1970.[1] Tafazzoli was appointed ambassador of Iran to Afghanistan in 1971 and held the post until 1974.[1] He wrote the text of the Shah's public speech delivered in Qom on 25 February 1972.[9]

Death, legacy and awards

Tafazzoli committed suicide on 20 December 1990.[1][3] Yaghoub Tavakoli published the diaries of Jahangir Tafazzoli in 1997.[10] Tafazzoli was the recipient of the Homayoun First Class Medal which was awarded to him in 1963.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "تغییر جهت از چپ رادیکال تا راست افراطی و نهایتاً شرمساری و خودکشی!". Farhanga Sadid (in Persian). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Report about Jahangir Tafazzoli" (in Persian). History Documents. March 1957. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nassereddin Parvin (15 December 2006). "Iran-e Ma". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XIII. pp. 496–498.
  4. ↑ Laurence Paul Elwell-Sutton (1968). "The Iranian Press, 1941–1947". Iran. 6: 97. doi:10.2307/4299603. JSTOR 4299603.
  5. 1 2 Gholam Reza Afkhami (2009). The Life and Times of the Shah. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 317, 390. ISBN 978-0-520-94216-5.
  6. ↑ Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. Central Intelligence Agency. 1963. p. 2-PP5.
  7. ↑ "Chronology September 16, 1962 – March 15, 1963". The Middle East Journal. 17 (1–2): 113. Winter–Spring 1963. JSTOR 4323557.
  8. ↑ "Hoveyda, Amir-Abbas". Encyclopedia Iranica.
  9. ↑ "خاطرات سانسورچی شاه در قیام 15 خرداد منتشر شد". IICHS (in Persian). 17 May 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "رضا اغنمی". Asre Nou (in Persian). 8 July 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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