Reza Fallah (1909–1982) was an Iranian businessman and political advisor. He shaped the Iranian oil policy under Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

Early life

Reza Fallah was born on 15 September 1909 in

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also Romanization of Persian, romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that t ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

.Reza Fallah Dies at 73; Ex - Iranian Oil Official
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', December 16, 1982Abbas Milani, ''Eminent Persians'', Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2008, pp. 139-14

/ref> He graduated from high school in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. He studied Petroleum Engineering at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

in England on a British Petroleum scholarship, receiving a PhD.

Career

In 1939, he returned to Iran and worked in the private sector. He then taught and served as Dean of the Abadan Technical Institute. In the 1950s and 1960s, he served as general manager the

Abadan Refinery The Abadan refinery ( fa, پالایشگاه آبادان ''Pālāyeshgāh-e Ābādān'') is an oil refinery located in Abadan near the coast of the Persian Gulf. History Built by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later BP) on the basis of a lease ...

, formerly owned by the

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...

.Jack Anderson
Architect of Iranian Oil Industry Dies Quietly
''The Dispatch'', December 28, 1892 He served as deputy chairman of the

National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; fa, شرکت ملّی نفت ایران, Sherkat-e Melli-ye Naft-e Īrān) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum o ...

from 1974 to 1979. During that time, he advised Shah

and essentially shaped Iran's oil policy. He was also a co-founder of the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

(OPEC). During the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

of 1979, he accompanied the Shah into exile. He refused to return to Iran, despite being summoned by Prime Minister

Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan ( fa, مهدی بازرگان; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Iran's interim government. He was appointed prime minister in February 1979 by Aya ...

. Indeed, he was on

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

's death list.

Personal life

He was married to Maheen Fallah (1919–2000). They had three daughters:

Lilly Fallah Lawrence Lilly may refer to: * an archaic spelling of lily, a flowering plant Arts and entertainment * ''Lilly'' (film), a 1958 Malayalam film * ''Lilly'' (album), by Antonello Venditti, 1975 * "Lilly", a song by Pink Martini from the 2004 album ''Han ...

and Gina "Kooky" Fallah. A third daughter died in a car accident when they were living in Tehran.

Death

He died on 5 December 1982 in Windsor, near London, England. He is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallah, Reza 1909 births 1982 deaths People from Kashan Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Birmingham 20th-century Iranian businesspeople National Iranian Oil Company people OPEC people Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Iranian political consultants