1. Early life

2. Political career

3. Death

4. See also

5. References

6. Sources

7. External links

Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; {{lang-fa|احمد قوام}}), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh ({{lang-fa|قوام السلطنه}}), was a politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran five times.

Early life

Qavam was born in 1876 to a prominent Iranian family with origins in Ashtian. His uncle, Amin Aldoleh, was a prime minister of Iran. He served in the royal court of Nasereddin Shah early in his career. He slowly climbed his way up, and obtained the title Ghavam al-Saltaneh during the Constitutional Revolution of Iran. Hasan Vothuq (also known as Vothuq al-Dowleh) was his older brother. The letter signed by Mozaffaredin Shah to accept the Iranian Constitutional Revolution was written by ghavam, who had the title of Dabir-e Hozoor (Private Secretary) at the time. In fact ghavam was instrumental in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution[2]. He became Prime Minister several times during both Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties. Any time the country needed him, he accepted the challenge. He played a significant role in preventing the USSR from separating Iran's northern states twice. Nevertheless, historians have mixed feelings about his legacy.

Political career

In 1921, during the coup d'état of Tehran against the Qajar government, Tabatabaei ordered Colonel Pessian to arrest many of the opposition, among them Ahmad Qavam. Qavam was arrested and sent to Tehran.

However with the fall of Zia'eddin Tabatabaee's government, Mostowfi ol-Mamalek among others was offered the position of Prime Minister, which he and the rest declined, due to the unstable political situation at the time. Hence Ghavam who had just been released from the Ishratabad prison of Tehran was offered the position, which he accepted and became Prime Minister overnight. So unusual was his rise that Iraj Mirza wrote the following verses:

یکی را افکند امروز در بند

کند روز دیگر او را خداوند

Ghavam 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 Tripartrite 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.^[2] 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 to discuss the issues personally with Stalin.^[3]

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.^[4] This earned Qavam the congenial title, "The Old Fox".

Death

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

See also

• Pahlavi Dynasty
• List of Prime Ministers of Iran
• Reza Shah
• Mohammad Reza Shah
• Abdolhossein Teymourtash
• Ali Akbar Davar
• Mirza Javad Khan Ameri

References

• The following reference was used for the above writing: 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the Past Three Centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). {{ISBN|964-93406-6-1}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|964-93406-5-3}} (Vol. 2).
• A book in Persian called Dar Tir Rase Hadese, The political life of Qavam osSaltaneh. First published in Tehran, winter of 2006. Author: Hamid Shokat, {{ISBN|9789648897142}}. Published by akhtaranbook (www.akhtaranbook.com)

Sources

• Translation from Persian Wikipedia

External links

  before= Zia'eddin Tabatabaee|  title= Prime Minister of Iran |  years= 1921–1922 |  after= Hassan Pirnia }}

  before= Hassan Pirnia|  title= Prime Minister of Iran |  years= 1922–1923|  after= Mostowfi ol-Mamalek }}

  before= Ali Soheili|  title= Prime Minister of Iran |  years= 1942–1943|  after= Ali Soheili }}

  before= Ebrahim Hakimi|  title= Prime Minister of Iran |  years= 1946–1947 |  after= Mohammad-Reza Hekmat }}

  before= Mohammad Mossadegh|  title= Prime Minister of Iran |  years= 1952 |  after= Mohammad Mossadegh }}

• Mitry–Claye station
• MITS
• Mitsado
• MITS Altair
• MITS Altair 8800
• Mitsiwa
• MIT Sloan
• MIT Sloan Management Review
• MIT Sloan School
• MIT Sloan School of Management
• Mitsotakis
• Mitsou
• Mitsou Gelinas
• Mitsou Gélinas
• MIT's Radiation Lab
• Mitsuaki Madono
• Mitsuba
• Mitsubishi
• Mitsubishi 3000GT
• Mitsubishi 380
• Mitsubishi 4G1 engine
• Mitsubishi 4G3 engine
• Mitsubishi 4G5 engine
• Mitsubishi 4G63 engine
• Mitsubishi 4G6 engine