Bakhtiar; 1- The Educated Khan-Zadeh

The series of articles titled "Bakhtiar" is a written collection based on the radio documentary "Bakhtiar" and is gradually published on the Radio Farda website. This collection is broadcasted by Radio Farda on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Shapur Bakhtiar. This is the first article in this series. Shapur Bakhtiar was born in the last years of the Qajar dynasty into a powerful family that were leaders of the large Bakhtiari tribe. The Bakhtiaris controlled a significant part of western and southern Iran, and Shapur Bakhtiar's family were the leaders of this tribe. They were essentially the rulers of regions that today encompass the provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and parts of Khuzestan and Isfahan provinces. For this reason, Shapur Bakhtiar's family tree is filled with familiar names that have been important actors in contemporary Iranian history, holding positions ranging from prime minister and diplomat to prominent leaders of the Constitutional Revolution. Among them is Shapur Bakhtiar's father, Mohammad Reza Khan, who is widely known in contemporary history by his title: "Sardar Fath". According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Bakhtiar's father was given the title "Sardar Fath" during the conquest of Tehran in 1288 (1909) and the victory of the Bakhtiaris and Gilanians against the supporters of Mohammad Ali Shah. He was the ninth child of Imam Qoli Khan (the founder of the "Haft Lang" branch of the Bakhtiari tribe), whose leaders were called "the great khans". After the conquest of Tehran, Bakhtiar's father also reached positions such as the governorship of Yazd and the governorship of Isfahan. Shapur Bakhtiar's mother was also the daughter of Najaf Qoli Khan Samsem al-Saltaneh, who served as prime minister twice during Ahmad Shah's reign. Due to his family's wealth and power, Bakhtiar was sent to Beirut for education at a young age to continue his studies. At that time, Beirut was administered by France between the two world wars. Bakhtiar began his education at a French boarding school, and from here, his deep connection with the French language and culture began, a bond that remained unbroken until his death. After completing high school in Beirut, he immigrated to France for further education, and as he wrote in his book "Yekrangi", at the age of 19, while preparing to enter university, he was informed that his influential father had been executed in Iran. The execution of Sardar Fath was part of a larger political project implemented by Reza Shah, which curtailed the power of a group of influential Bakhtiaris. How did the decline of the Bakhtiaris come about, and why was Shapur Bakhtiar's father executed? According to Majid Tafreshi, a history researcher in London, following the discovery of oil in the south, the Bakhtiaris benefited from the proceeds of oil sales by establishing the Bakhtiari Oil Company and simultaneously built a good relationship with the British. This researcher states that the British strengthened their relations with them to ensure the security of the oil regions and the passage of oil through lands controlled by the Bakhtiaris. Tafreshi says, "When Reza Shah came to power, he was concerned that this parallel force, which had established a good relationship with the British government, would cause him trouble. Therefore, following a movement that the Bakhtiaris wanted to undertake against the government in 1309, which some believe was not very serious, all the leaders of the Bakhtiari tribe, including Jafar Qoli Khan Sardar As'ad (who was actually the third Sardar As'ad and the son of Sardar As'ad II) and Sardar Fath were imprisoned. Jafar Qoli Khan was poisoned in prison and died under suspicious circumstances. Sardar Fath was also executed." The execution of his father caused a several-year interruption in Shapur Bakhtiar's studies. As he wrote himself, the reason for this educational interruption was that when he returned to Iran after his father's execution, he realized that contrary to his expectations, his family's financial situation was not so good. Therefore, he had to spend several years in Iran to manage financial affairs. Eventually, he returned to France and continued his studies, which were extraordinarily diverse, and according to himself, earned him three bachelor's degrees in legal studies, political science, and philosophy. During this time, the Spanish Civil War was one of the current issues discussed among European students, marking Bakhtiar's first encounter with modern politics. In this war, the religious right and Spanish nationalists led by General Franco faced off against the Republicans and leftist democrats of the country. Bakhtiar engaged in activities in favor of the Republicans. Although he never joined the famous International Brigade supporting the Republicans, he was active in collecting aid for them. Shortly after the end of this war, which resulted in the defeat of the Republicans, the second significant event in Bakhtiar's political life began: World War II. This time, Bakhtiar did not remain idle. Having a French wife at the beginning of the war, he joined the French army to be sent to the front against Nazi Germany, while, as Bakhtiar wrote, at that time, Hitler had considerable popularity among Iranians. The French army quickly suffered defeat in this war, and Shapur Bakhtiar's activities were limited to brief cooperation with the National Resistance Movement of France; an activity that, according to himself, at least once put him in serious danger and could have cost him his life. After World War II, Bakhtiar continued his studies and eventually earned a doctorate in law with a thesis on the necessity of the separation of religion and power. The content of his thesis focused on the ongoing struggle of the Catholic Church—especially in countries like Spain and France—with liberal democracy, but in practice became an ideological backing for the time when he unexpectedly found himself opposing Ayatollah Khomeini at the dawn of the establishment of the first religious government in contemporary Iran. When Bakhtiar returned to Iran after completing his studies, one of the Bakhtiaris named Soraya Isfandiari was the queen of Iran. Queen Soraya was a descendant of Hossein Qoli Khan, the head of the Bakhtiari tribe, who after his suspicious death, this position passed to his brother Imam Qoli Khan, who was also Shapur Bakhtiar's grandfather. This kinship led Bakhtiar to meet Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi immediately upon his return to Iran. In this meeting, Bakhtiar and the Shah discussed the French language and culture and their favorite poets. Apparently, both were satisfied with this meeting. After that, Bakhtiar found a suitable government job and, due to his education and family influence, quickly rose to the position of Deputy Minister of Labor in Mohammad Mossadegh's government; the respected leader of the National Front. From this point on, Shapur Bakhtiar's political life became intertwined with the fate of the National Front and its leader. He joined the Iran Party, which was considered a social-democratic party with nationalist tendencies and was a staunch supporter of Mossadegh and the nationalization of the oil industry. However, according to Bakhtiar himself, when Mossadegh's government fell on August 19, the new government led by Brigadier General Fazlollah Zahedi invited him to join the government and take the post of Minister of Labor. Bakhtiar wrote in his book that he rejected this invitation and instead tried to form a political opposition coalition with the help of figures like Mehdi Bazargan. During this period, he worked for private companies and associated with those who, as members of the National Front or Mossadegh supporters, occasionally emerged from prison. Abbas Milani, an Iranian historian and university professor in the United States, states that Bakhtiar's first prominent presence in Iran's political developments occurred during a period when, due to the pressure of John F. Kennedy, the then President of the United States, the political atmosphere after August 19 was briefly softened. He says, "I believe that period is very important for understanding Dr. Bakhtiar's character. Dr. Bakhtiar delivered an important speech at the famous Jaleh meeting in May 1961, which had a significant impact on the fate of the National Front. At that time, the Americans were pressing the Shah to form at least a coalition government with the National Front. Iran's economic situation was dire, and the Americans had concluded that Iran was on the brink of revolution. For this reason, very serious negotiations were held with the Shah and the National Front to bring them into a coalition government and ultimately take control of the government." As Abbas Milani states, while it seemed that the National Front had a good chance of coming to power, Bakhtiar radicalized during his speech at the Jaleh Garden—now known as Laleh Park—and disrupted all these plans. This university professor says, "At that meeting, Bakhtiar exited from the speech he was supposed to give and delivered a more radical speech, calling for Iran's exit from the CENTO treaty and joining the non-aligned countries. In precise documents, we see that the Americans become concerned, and the Shah immediately tells them that I told you these people have leftist tendencies. And from here, the Americans' inclination changes, and they conclude that perhaps they should create a kind of dummy front and go after establishing the New Iran Party." Bakhtiar later denied this issue multiple times and insisted that in that speech he called for a balanced foreign policy based on national interests and was criticized only because of the widespread backlash and public support for his remarks. In any case, after this speech, Bakhtiar continued his activities along with the other members of the second National Front until, after three years of political struggle with Mohammad Reza Shah and the repeated imprisonments of National Front members, including Bakhtiar himself, this group decided to cease its activities in 1964. According to Bakhtiar, one of the important decisions of this period of the National Front, in which he played a key role, was the group's refusal to support Ayatollah Khomeini during the protests of June 1963. After the dissolution of the second National Front in 1964, a long period of repression and lack of political freedoms in Iran began. During this time, Bakhtiar's share, like many other political dissidents who demanded the implementation of the constitutional law, was intermittent imprisonments, and they, like other opponents, were neither allowed political activity nor to express their views freely until 1977 when the winds of change once again began to blow from the White House towards the Pahlavi monarchy.