Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; ), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh (), was an Iranian politician who served as

Prime Minister of Iran The prime minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...

five times.

Early life

Qavam was born in 1873 to the prominent

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Qavam family. His uncle, Amin Aldoleh, was a

. Hasan Vossug, who also served as Iran's Prime Minister twice, was his older brother. Qavam served in the court of

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...

early in his career and obtained the title ''os-Saltaneh'' during the Constitutional Revolution of Iran in 1909. The letter signed by

Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907) was the fifth Qajar shah of Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with the creation of the Persian Constitution of 1906, which he approved of in ...

in acceptance of the Constitutional Revolution was written by Qavam, who had the title of ''Dabir-e Hozoor'' (Private Secretary) at the time. Qavam became Prime Minister several times during both the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

and Pahlavi eras. Twice he played a significant role in preventing the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from annexing Iran's northern provinces.

Political career

Qavam was appointed governor of

Khorasan province Khorasan ( ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian Empire, Parthian times, was a Provinces of Iran, province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided in ...

in 1918, during which time he responded to the ongoing famine and the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

pandemic. He was a hardliner administrator and banned some of the newspapers which had been published in the region. In 1921, during the coup d'état of Tehran against the Qajar government, Tabatabaee ordered Colonel Pessian to arrest many of the opposition, among them Ahmad Qavam. However, with the fall of Tabatabaee's government and the refusal by Mostowfi ol-Mamalek and others to accept the position of Prime Minister due to the unstable political situation, Qavam, just released from the Ishratabad prison of Tehran, was offered the position. He accepted and became Prime Minister in circumstances so unusual that Iraj Mirza wrote the following verses: یکی را افکند امروز در بند
کند روز دیگر او را خداوند ''"One day in prison he is thrown,''
''another day the King's chair he'll own"'' Qavam in fact ordered the arrest of Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee in an incident 25 years later. He also ordered the crackdown on the revolt of Colonel Pessian which he crushed with the aid of Reza Pahlavi. Of the major events that occurred during his terms as the Prime Minister, was his invitation to Arthur Millspaugh for assisting the government in its finances. Another was the riots of 1942 for economic hardship. He appointed Sepahbod Ahmad Amir-Ahmadi to restore order and end the riots, which he did forcefully. Qavam was also instrumental in the 1942 Tripartite Treaty between Iran, Russia, and Britain. He was again voted Prime Minister on 26 January 1946 with a slim margin in the Majlis of 52–51. The Majlis thought he would have the best chance of resolving the Soviet-inspired rebellion of the occupied Azerbaijan province since Qavam was the largest property owner in the region. Qavam did not disappoint. He ordered the Iranian delegation to the UN to negotiate issues pending before the Security Council directly with the Soviet delegation. He then flew to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to discuss the issues personally with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. When the Soviets violated the terms of the Tripartite Pact which called for all foreign military forces to be withdrawn from Iranian territory by 2 March 1946, it drew a strong rebuke from Parliamentary Whip, Mohammed Mossadegh. Qavam arranged a deal with the Soviets, granting an oil concession in the North contingent on the approval of the Majlis after the elections. Under the terms of the agreement with Qavam, Soviet troops began withdrawing from Iran. When the new Majlis was seated, they immediately voted against the proposed Soviet oil concession. This earned Qavam the congenial title, "The Old Fox". It also caused significant opposition against him led by '' Atesh'' and its editor Mehdi Mir Ashrafi and '' Mard-i Imruz'' and its editor Mohammad Masud who publicly argued that Qavam should be killed due to the oil deal with the Soviets.

Death

Qavam died at the age of 82 in 1955 in Tehran. He was survived by his second wife and his only son, Hossein.

References

Other sources

*T'Alí Rizā Awsatí. (2003). ''Iran in the Past Three Centuries'' (''Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh''), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing, Tehran, Iran, 2003). (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). *Hamid Shokat. (2006). ''Dar Tir Rase Hadese'', ''The political life of Qavam osSaltaneh''. Tehran, . Published by akhtaranbook (www.akhtaranbook.com)

External links