News ID: 223

"Qavam Serving The Dictator" in US Department of State Documents

Qavam-al-Saltaneh was appointed as the head of ministers in 29 May 1921, and went to his office directly from the prison. "He is the younger brother of Vosoogh-al-Doleh and had roles in different cabinets from 1910 - 1918. Then he became the governor of Khorasan. But Seyyed Zia, the former head of ministers, jailed him in March. His intellectual, reformist and dynamic character is praised by everyone, but he's also known for bribery... Till this moment, all influencial men arrested by the previous government have been freed."
Sunday 16 May 2021 - 14:39

Irdc.ir: Qavam-al-Saltaneh was appointed as the head of ministers in 29 May 1921, and went to his office directly from the prison. "He is the younger brother of Vosoogh-al-Doleh and had roles in different cabinets from 1910 - 1918. Then he became the governor of Khorasan. But Seyyed Zia, the former head of ministers, jailed him in March. His intellectual, reformist and dynamic character is praised by everyone, but he's also known for bribery... Till this moment, all influencial men arrested by the previous government have been freed."

His cabinet was formed in June 4th:" Sardar Sepah, who overthrew the last administration, would still be the minister of War"

"The only suitable candidate for this position was Sardar Sepah himself. The previous administration had gained power by his support, and had been overthrown by him. The only organized army of Iran is under his command. He had every right to demand the position of "head of ministers". But due to his own limitations, or waiting for a better opportunity, he did not do so. Shah, chose Qavam-al-Saltaneh, former governor of Khorasan for this position. There is no sensible reason for this choice, but this was the choice with the lowest risk of arising protests among various groups. Qavam, has been brave to accept it, because people do not trust him, and that's other than his relationship with Vosoogh-al-Doleh. He is the brother of the man who signed the 1919 agreement with Britain, a corrupted politician. On the other hand, no one doubts his his intelligence and diligence. He was smart enough to find a way to get poeple to trust him. He had learned his lesson from the past, and he knew he had to order the formation of Parliament. On June 6th he promised to do so, on June 15th he had Shah's order and on June 22nd, the parliament started its work."

Many members of the parliament questioned the creditability of Nosrat-al_Doleh Firouz:" Soleiman Mirza And Tabatabai, had not accepted his declarations about diassociation with Britain and accused him of betrayal. But he managed to defend himself. He claimed that what he had done, was not worse than democrats supporting Germany who started the wave of "Immigration". In 1915 they left the parliament for Qom with ambassodor of Turkey and Germany, putting Iran against the Allies. The question is that if they have not been accused, why a Britain supporter deserves penalty? This was hard to be answered so his letter of credit representing Kermanshah, was signed by 47 members. The only members prosecuted or banned from their position ib parliament were the ones who were in the "Black Cabinet" of Seyyed Zia, or had supported him. The only member of the Black Cabinet who no one had the courage to convict, was Reza Khan, Iran's military dictator.

The parliament asked the ministers to convict the previous administration. But as they refused to do so, 41 members of the parliament issued a statement in 5 July 1921, claiming that the February coup was the conspiracy of Britain, aiming to get Iran under control. The main purpose of Qavam administration was giving the monopoly right of oil to an American oil company and hiring American advisors in Iran. He fired British advisors first he came to the office. Qavam was using the competition between Britain and United States to prevent British domination in Iran. But this was a failure, because in May 1921, London and Washington agreed on British influence in Iran, and instead, Britain allowed United States access to the oil wells of Iraq. Furthermore, New Jersey Standard Oild Company had an agreement with Iran-Britain Oil Company and guaranteed their participation in the oil of the North, and this was something Iranian authorities were trying to prevent.

The revolt in Khorasan was something Qavam had to deal with on his first days in office. Colonel Muhammadtaghi Khan Pesian, who had arrested Qavam by the order of Seyyed Zia, and had been fired since Qavam had gained power, declared the independence of Khorasan. The government tried to solve this problem and negotiate with Colonel in the issue. After a long period, he finally asked for forgiveness for his followers, plus 500 Tomans a month for 2 years. Qavam did not accept that and animosity was started over. Colonel gained some victories but at last, in October, Qazaq forces were sent to fight him and finally he was defeated in Quchan. A few days later, he initiated an attack and got killed.

The circumstance was not any better in Tehran. On 13 October 1921, there were rumors about plans for assassination of Qavam and Reza Khan. Reza Khan was then in Gilan, opressing the Jungle Movement. 9 people were arrested and some changes were made in the cabinet. Then it was revealed that the assassination plan was not very serious, the head of the plan, Moshar-al-Molk, had left the country and there were no proof about his collaborators, so all the arrested ones were released in few days. Things were all good for Reza khan. His dictatorship was getting stronger and his adversaries were being eliminated one after another. The last two months of 1921 was spent on negotiations with Standard Oil Company and giving them the monopoly right.

The disappointing situation of the economy, with Britain refusing to help, meant the greater need for US economic support. Britain blocked one of the US loans to Iran, and ordered the Royal bank not to extend the creditability of Qavam Administration. The big useless spendings of Reza Khan had put the government in a bad economic situation, and the lack of budget caused more financial problems, so Qavam had to resign and his cabinet was collapsed on 20 January 1922.


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