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Hassan Pakravan | |
|---|---|
حسن پاکروان | |
 | |
| Minister of Information | |
| In office January 1965 – 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Amir-Abbas Hoveyda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1911-08-04)4 August 1911 |
| Died | 11 April 1979(1979-04-11) (aged 67) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Imperial Iranian Army |
| Years of service | 1931–1978 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Commands | Director ofSAVAK (1961–1965) Minister of Information inAmir-Abbas Hoveyda government |
Hassan Pakravan (4 August 1911 – 11 April 1979) was a well-known diplomat and minister in thePahlavi pre-revolutionary government ofIran. He is not only notable for his political involvement with theMohammad Reza Pahlavi government andSAVAK, but also his relationship withRuhollah Khomeini.
Hassan Pakravan, son of Fathollah andAmineh Pakravan, was born inTehran on 4 August 1911 (13 Mordad 1290 AP). His father held many high government posts, including governor ofKhorasan province and ambassador toItaly. His mother, partly of European descent, was a professor at theUniversity of Tehran. She was awarded the prestigious French Prix Rivarol, which theFrench government gives to foreign authors who write directly in French. She was related to theHabsburg rulers of theAustro-Hungarian empire.
As a child, Pakravan accompanied his parents toCairo, where his father was appointed diplomatic agent. There, he received his primary education at theLycée Français. He was then sent toLiège,Belgium where he attended high school and university. Pakravan then studied at theartillery school inPoitiers, France, and the Ecole d’Application d’Artillerie inFontainebleau.
In the 1940-1970s, Hassan Pakravan held many politically important, military and diplomatic posts, among them:
Pakravan was known for being more compassionate than any of National Security and Information Department's other directors. However, Mohammad Reza Shah replaced Pakravan with his childhood friendNematollah Nassiri in 1965. He returned to Iran in 1976 and was brought out of retirement in 1978 by the Shah in a last-ditch effort to curb corruption at the Royal Court. Pakravan's supporters noted his aristocratic and impeccable character as well as his intelligence and moral courage to be a source of consolation at the difficult times of 1978–79 when theIranian Revolution took control of the opposition and eventually seized power.
One of his first decisions as head of SAVAK was to refrain from any form oftorture during interrogations.[4]
One of the more fascinating segments of the memoirs of General Pakravan's wife is the description of her husband's weekly luncheons with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1963, when the Ayatollah was under house arrest.
According to General Pakravan, "The ayatollah used to say in this very flowery Eastern way, 'Timsar [General], I count the days until we reach the day of our luncheon.'" He described the ayatollah as, very handsome, someone with extraordinary presence, a power of seduction and great charisma. They talked about religion, philosophy, and history. General Pakravan also found him to be very ambitious and secretive. "So much so that it made my hair stand on end. It was frightening," he told his wife.
Mrs. Pakravan confirms the well-known story that her husband saved Ayatollah Khomeini's life in 1963. He wascondemned to death and General Pakravan was upset by that. Pakravan felt that Khomeini's execution would anger the common people of Iran. He knew that the population of the country was not its elite. He presented his argument to the Shah. Once he had convinced the Shah to allow him to find a way out, he called onAyatollah Mohammad-Kazem Shariatmadari, one of the senior religious leaders of Iran, and asked for his help. Ayatollah Shariatmadari suggested that Khomeini be made aGrand Ayatollah. So, they made areligious decree which was taken by General Pakravan and Seyyed Jalal Tehrani to the Shah.
After the Iranian Revolution, Pakravan was among the first of the Shah's officials to be executed. He was not allowed to have access to alawyer and the charges filed against him were vague. Given the fact that he was retired at the time of the revolution, his execution seemed all the more unjust. Pakravan was a key player in convincing the Shah to commute the death sentence on Khomeini in 1963 and instead sending him to exile. Khomeini was first sent toTurkey, and then toIraq, where he stayed until his expulsion and relocation to France in 1978.
In her memoirs, Mrs. Pakravan provides the description of the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of her husband by theIslamic Revolutionary Court. She argues that General Pakravan was taken from his house to an unknown destination. When his son tried to contact him, he was told that the general was not arrested at all but that he was the guest of the Ayatollah. But in fact he was imprisoned shortly after his arrest.
After his death sentence was read in mid-April 1979, Pakravan told the judges that he had accepted all the responsibilities then, and he accepted them now.[5]
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Director of theNational Organization for Security and Intelligence 1961−1965 | Succeeded by |
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| Related | ||
People executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran | |
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| Politicians and noblemen of thePahlavi period | |
| Military officers and soldiers of thePahlavi period | |
| Left-wing politics |
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| Other political opponents | |
| Perpetrators | |
| International | |
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| National | |
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