General Gholam Reza Azhari

Gholam Reza Azhari was born in 1917 in Shiraz. Following his elementary and secondary education in 1933 he entered the officers college. He started his military career as second lieutenant. In 1937, he went to the rank of colonel and was appointed assistant commander of military police. In 1949 he went to United States for a period of high training course. He passed a staff college course in 1953, and went to the rank of general. Tow years later went for a short period of staff training to United States.

He was commander of 11^th infantry Division (1958) and commander of military academy (1960). He was transferred to commanding officer of Ground forces staff in 1963. In 1964 he was appointed commander of 1^st  army. Azhari was Iranian military representative in CENTO permanent military Deputies Group (1960). He became academic chief of supreme commander’s staff in (1969) and chief of supreme commander’s staff(1971).

Following the failure of different cabinets against revolution. The Shah decided to appoint a military authority to the head of cabinet, so that he might succeed to prevent the flow of revolutionary movement, so General Gholam Reza Azhari was appointed prime minister.

And on 6 November 1978 introduced his cabinet members in the same day, in this cabinet Gholam Ali Oveisi was responsible for the ministry of labour and social affairs, lieutenant general Amir Hossein Rabii as responsible for ministry of Housing and city building and general Garadaghi as minister of interior. During his premiership many journalists and authors were arrested. He also, ordered for the detention of some statesmen including GeneralName Nassiri, Manouchehr Azmoun, AbdolAzim Valian, Darioush Homayoon, GholamReza Nikpey and Amir Abbass Hoveida. Azhari invited military attaché of Iran in Pakistan, major Ansari to come to the country for investigating the above said people. He also appointed some military officers as governor general in provinces of Khorassan, Kermanshah and westwrn Azerbaijan to suppress the revolution . but these attempts were useless. Like other Pahlavi statesmen, Azhari did not believe that revolution was taking place on 6 December 1978 in Senat he stated that the slogans given by people at nights were not original but a tape recorder’s voice.

In the next demonstarations people answered that “poor Azhari, again you say this a tape recorder, but tape recorder cannot walk.” The uselessness of military government led Azhari to leave his office and finally he excused himself by claiming that he had heart failure and immediately he left the country.he resided in Washington and founded a Bank in Costa Rica  with Hojabr Yazdani. But did not join in any political activity. On October 2001 he died in United States. During his military  career he received many decorations including Shah Aryamehr’s special Adjutant, “Homayoun” class II and I, “liaqat” , “Eftekhar”, “khedmat”, “Kushesh “,”Varzesh”,”Spes”,”Pas”, 28^th Mordad medal and CENTO target shooting commeration medal, there are about 200 documents on  his military and family grounds  in IICHS which may be useful for researchers and historians.