Karim Sanjabi | |
|---|---|
کریم سنجابی | |
 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 11 February 1979 – 1 April 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Preceded by | Ahmad Mirfendereski |
| Succeeded by | Ebrahim Yazdi |
| Member of the Parliament | |
| In office 27 April 1952 – 16 August 1953 | |
| Constituency | Kermanshah |
| Minister of Culture | |
| In office 28 April 1951 – 6 May 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | Mohammad Mosaddegh |
| Preceded by | Mahmoud Mehran |
| Succeeded by | Mahmoud Hessabi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1905-09-11)11 September 1905[1] |
| Died | 4 July 1995(1995-07-04) (aged 89) |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Party | National Front |
| Other political affiliations | Iran Party Motherland Party |
| Spouse | Fakhrolmolouk Ardalan Sanjabi |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Sorbonne University, Faculty of Law |
| Signature |  |
Karim Bakhtiar Sanjabi (Persian:کریم بختیار سنجابی; September 11, 1905 – July 4, 1995) was anIranianpolitician, a member of TheNational Consultative Assembly. He was also a professor atTehran University Law School and one of the leaders of IranNational Front andIran Party.[2] Sanjabi was also considered the Minister of Culture in the government ofMohammad Mosaddegh and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran in the government ofMahdi Bazargan.[3]
He was born inKermanshah in September 1905 to the chief of theKurdishSanjâbi tribe.[4] He studied law and politics atSorbonne University. He worked as a law professor atthe University of Tehran.[4]
Sanjabi andAllahyar Saleh led theIran Party, a nationalist, progressive, leftist and anti-Soviet group, in the 1950s.[5] The party became part ofthe National Front.[5] Sanjabi was a loyal supporter ofMohammad Mossadegh and he later served as minister of education under Mossadegh in 1952. Mossadegh had led the movement to nationalize theBritish-controlled oil industry in Iran (which, after nationalization, became known as theNational Iranian Oil Company) and after this was accomplished, he became engaged in a heated battle with the British (who had previously controlled the oil industry and wished to reassert control over it) and with the forces rallying aroundMohammad Reza Shah (the king of Iran who was opposed to Mossadegh's policies vis-a-vis the British, as well as the prime minister's efforts at limiting the Shah's power and influence). After aCIA-MI6 coup d'étatoverthrew Mossadegh in August 1953, Sanjabi, along with other Mossadegh supporters, went into opposition against the Shah's regime. He was heavily involved in the formation of the Second National Front in 1960. The reconstituted National Front was to remain active for five years, but under increasingly worsening circumstances. Despite its moderate[according to whom?] demands for electoral reforms and a Shah that would "reign and not rule", the Shah refused to tolerate the Front's activities. His powerful security forces, most notably theSAVAK, silenced the likes of Sanjabi and other secular democrats. Due to this and a variety of other factors, it had dissolved by 1965. The Front was to remain dormant until the late 1970s. It was revived in late 1977 by Sanjabi as its leader.[6]
As the general secretary of the National Front during therevolutionary uprising of 1978–1979, Sanjabi and his colleagues initially wished to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Shah. However, on 3 November 1978, he met as representative of the National Front withAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in France.[7] He had gone there hoping to convince Khomeini to support the creation of a coalition government headed by the National Front. Despite the rising revolutionary fervor, Sanjabi and a number of other liberals had remained loyal to the idea of a constitutional monarchy with the Shah as ceremonial figurehead and they wished to bring Khomeini over to their point of view. Khomeini, however, refused to budge and reiterated his demand for the overthrow of the monarchy. In the end, Sanjabi, acting as head of the National Front, capitulated to Khomeini's demands. In addition, he accepted the leadership of Khomeini and opposed to the alliance withthe Tudeh party.[8] Sanjabi emerged from his meeting "with a short declaration that spoke of both Islam and democracy as basic principles",[9] and Sanjabi declared his support for Khomeini and joined his forces.[7]
After the overthrow of the monarchy on 11 February 1979, Khomeini "explicitly refused to put the same word, democracy, into either the title of the Republic or its constitution."[9] Sanjabi served as the foreign minister of theprovisional government led byMehdi Bazargan between 11 February and 1 April 1979, replacingAhmad Mirfendereski in the post.[10][11] Sanjabi believed and stated that without resolving the Palestinian issue there shall be no peace in the region. Sanjabi also condemnedShahpour Bakhtiar for accepting the Prime minister position offer by the Shah. He was replaced byEbrahim Yazdi as minister of foreign affairs in April.[10][11]
Sanjabi's house in Tehran was bombed on 8 April 1978.[7] The underground committee for revenge, a state-financed organization, proclaimed the responsibility of the bombing.[7] He was arrested on 11 November 1978 and freed on 6 December.[7]
Sanjabi was married to Fakhrolmolouk Ardalan Sanjabi (7 September 1921 - 21 February 2011) and had four children, three sons and a daughter. Khosrow, Parviz, Saeed and Maryam.[12]
Sanjabi left Iran in 1982 and went toParis.[13] Later he settled in the US.[13][14] He died on 4 July 1995 at his home inCarbondale, Illinois, at the age of 89.[4]
Media related toKarim Sanjabi at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Foreign Minister of Iran 1979 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Allahyar Saleh | Leader ofNational Front 1967–1988 | Vacant Title next held by Adib Boroumand |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
