Mohammad Masud (1905–1948;

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: محمد مسعود) was an Iranian journalist and writer. He published some books and launched a weekly newspaper, '' Mard-i Imruz'' (

: ''The Man of Today''). He was an ardent critic of the Pahlavi rule and

Ahmad Qavam 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 five times. Early life Qavam was born in 1873 to the prominent Iranian Qavam family. His un ...

. Masud was assassinated in February 1948.

Biography

Masud was born in 1905. He went to Belgium to study journalism in 1935 when he was awarded a government scholarship and returned to Iran in 1938 following his graduation. He applied for a state institution for employment, but his application was denied. After this incident he became a critic of

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

. In 1942 Masud published an autobiography entitled ''Guha'i keh dar Jahannam Miruyand'' (Persian: ''Flowers which Grow in Hell''). Next year he published another book, ''Bahar-i Umr'' (Persian: ''The Spring of Life''). In 1942 he also started his journalism career launching a weekly newspaper entitled ''Mard-i Imruz'' in which he published critical articles and political cartoons which targeted

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ahmad Qavam and his cabinet. Journalist and future foreign minister

Hossein Fatemi Hossein Fatemi (; also Romanized as Hoseyn Fātemi; 10 February 1917 – 10 November 1954) was an Iranian scholar. A close associate of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, he proposed nationalization of Iranian oil and gas assets. Initially a jou ...

was one of Masud's close friends who contributed to ''Mard-i Imruz''. In October 1947 Masud publicly argued in the paper that Qavam should be murdered due to the oil concession treaty with 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 ...

Homa Katouzian Homa Katouzian (Persian: همايون کاتوزیان; born Homayoun Katouzian on 17 November 1942) is an economist, historian, sociologist and literary critic, with a special interest in Iranian studies. Katouzian's formal academic training wa ...

argues that Masud employed his paper to get money from the rich whom he attacked through sensational news about them. Four months later on 13 February 1948 Masud was assassinated by a squad led by

Noureddin Kianouri Noureddin Kianouri (; 1915–1999) was an Iranian construction engineer, urban planner, professor of Bauakademie der DDR in Berlin, and a communist political leader. He studied first at University of Tehran until 1934 and later in Germany from 1 ...

. The group was linked to the

Tudeh Party The Tudeh Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddegh's campaign to nationalize ...

. His assassination was the first of the political killings which continued into the 1950s in Iran. Hossein Fatemi was delivering a speech in a ceremony for Masud at his grave on 13 February 1952 when he became a target of the assassination attempt by a member of the Fedayan-e Islam. Although he survived this attack, he was severely injured.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masud, Mohammad 20th-century Iranian journalists 20th-century Iranian writers 20th-century newspaper founders 1905 births 1948 deaths Assassinated Iranian journalists Iranian dissidents