Lieutenant General Teymur Bakhtiar

Fatemeh Moezzi

Son of Fathali Bakhtiar (Sardar Moazzam Bakhtiari), Lieutenant Teymur Bakhtiar was born in Shahre Kord, 1914. His father was a descendent of Imam Qoli Ilkhani. Teymur Bakhtiar received his elementary education in Isfahan and then was sent to Tehran along with Shapur Bakhtiar. When he received his degree in secondary school, he left for France. In there, he entered the military school of saint Cyr. After two years of education, he returned to Iran with the rank of a second lieutenant. In Iran he was promoted step by step and in 1946 he became a commandant of cavalry regiment. In Azerbaijan crisis he succeeded to suppress the riot of the democrats in Maragheh. As a result he was promoted colonel. In 1950, he became the commandant of guard division headquarters. During Dr. Mossaddeq’s cabinet, he was the commandant of armored brigade of Kermanshah so that he would be far away from Tehran.

During 19 Aug. coup, Bakhtiar cooperated with the coup forces. He strengthened his forces in case of necessity to invade Tehran. However, the coup troops felt no need. He was appointed military governor of Tehran as a reward for his services and began to suppress opponents to Pahlavi regime. Among his actions in this period is the detainment of Seyyed Hossein Fatemi, members of military branch of Tudeh Party, detainment of Navab Safavi, execution of the opponents and censorship in the newspapers.

He was appointed head of SAVAK in 1956 and created an atmosphere of extreme terror in the country. In 1960, he was promoted lieutenant general and was after prime minister’s office. He was an ambitious man. He entered into negotiations with Dean Rusk, US secretary of department. However, the Shah was informed of these negotiations and he removed Bakhtiar from his office in March 1960 with the expediency of his American advisors. Bakhtiar left Iran for Europe in 1961. In the next year he was retired from his office. Bakhtiar embarked on apparent opposition to the Pahlavi regime. Instead, the shah ordered for the confiscation of his properties. In 1968, he decided to establish himself in Iraq for effective opposition to the Shah. So he went to Iraq via Lebanon. However he was arrested in Lebanon because of carrying illegal arms. Iranian government made great efforts in vain to take him back. These endeavors were useless and he succeeded to enter into Iraq. This action led to a breach in the relationship of Iran to Lebanon and Iraq.

In 1969, a military court condemned Bakhtiar to death penalty. Eventually he was murdered in a preserve near to Baghdad by Pahlavi agents in that city.
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