Gholam Hossein Sadighi

Who was Gholam Hossein Sadighi?

Dr. Gholam Hossein Sadighi was the Iranian Minister of Interior in the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. After a CIA-backed coup d'etat overthrew Mossadegh, Sadighi was arrested and later testified in defense of Mossadegh at the latter's trial. Despite the loss of power, Sadighi continued to be politically active. He helped to found the Second National Front in 1960 and, along with other pro-Mossadegh politicians, advocated a democratic system and a Shah that reigns but does not rule.

By 1978, Iran was gripped by mass turmoil and there was a significant danger that Mohammad Reza Shah would be toppled by a mass rebellion led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Because of this threat, the Shah appointed Sadighi as the prime minister in order to rally the moderates behind the government and neutralize the religious opposition. However, the plan collapsed over Sadighi's insistence that the Shah remain in the country and that full executive powers be entrusted in the premier's cabinet, two things that the Shah refused to grant. Because of this, Sadighi left the scene and the Shah instead appointed Dr. Shapour Bakhtiar as prime Minister of Iran. Sadighi was a patriot who never left Iran and lived in Tehran until his death in March 1990. He is buried in Ebn-e Baveh cemetery in Iran.