Ali Akbar Moinfar

Ali Akbar Moinfar (Persian: علی‌اکبر معین‌فر‎; 14 January 1928[1][2] – 2 January 2018) was an Iranian politician and the first oil minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, serving briefly from 1979 to 1980. He later served as a Member of the Parliament of Iran from 1980 to 1984, representing Tehran, Rey and Shemiranat.

Ali Akbar Moinfar
Minister of Petroleum
In office
29 September 1979 – 2 September 1980
Prime MinisterMehdi Bazargan
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMohammad Javad Tondguyan
Minister without Portfolio for Plan and Budget
In office
13 February 1979 – 29 September 1979
Prime MinisterMehdi Bazargan
Succeeded byEzzatollah Sahabi
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office
28 May 1980 – 28 May 1984
ConstituencyTehran, Rey and Shemiranat
Majority1,439,360 (67.4%)
Personal details
Born(1928-01-14)14 January 1928
Tehran, Persia
Died2 January 2018(2018-01-02) (aged 89)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
Political partyFreedom Movement of Iran (affiliate non-member)
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
Waseda University

Early life and education

Moinfar was born in Tehran in May 1928. He graduated with a structural engineering degree from Tehran University in 1951. He furthered his studies in seismic engineering under professor Seiji Naito in Waseda university Japan.[3][3][4][5] He was a founding member of the Islamic Association of Engineers.[6]

Early career

Moinfar worked at the plan and budget organization during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[7] He had connections with the Freedom of Iran movement, which was led by Mehdi Bazargan.[7] However, this link was not formal and he never attached himself to the movement.[8]

Political career

Following the 1979 revolution, Moinfar became one of the members of the Revolutionary Council.[4][9][10] He also acted as the spokesman of the council.[11] He was named minister of budget and planning to the interim government headed by Mehdi Bazargan.[12]

Oil ministry

In September 1979, Moinfar was appointed oil minister in a cabinet reshuffle, becoming the first oil minister of Iran in September 1979,[13][14] when the office was established.[7][15] He was also appointed chairman and managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), replacing Hasan Nazih.[7][16]

Moinfar continued to serve as oil minister after the resignation of the interim government of Bazargan in November 1979. He also won a parliamentary seat in the 1980 general elections.[8] However, he was harshly criticized by the fundamentalists for removing 'only committed Moslems' rather than leftists from the ministry.[17] Moinfar's tenure lasted until September 1980 when Mohammad Ali Rajai formed the cabinet.[18] Ashgar Ibrahimi was nominated to succeed Moinfar as oil minister.[18] However, Ibrahimi did not get necessary vote at the Majlis, and Mohammad Javad Baqer Tondguyan became the oil minister.[19]

Parliamentary years

Moinfar served as a parliament member until 1984. He was beaten by nearly ten conservative members of the parliament in 1983.[20] He ran for office in the 1996 elections, but his candidacy was rejected by the Guardian Council.[21]

Later years

Moinfar never left Iran except to visit his children who lived overseas.[22] He was an honorary member of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering.[23]

Death

Moinfar died on 2 January 2018 in Tehran, 12 days before his 90th birthday.[2][24]

References
  1. "درگذشت معین فر؛ اولین وزیر نفت ایران - پیام سرای زنده 110". live110.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  2. "تاریخ ایرانی - درگذشت معین‌فر؛ اولین وزیر نفت ایران". www.tarikhirani.ir. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. Hossein Shahidi (11 May 2007). Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  4. Takashi Oka (17 January 1980). "Japan agonizes over joining West against Iran, USSR". The Christian Science Monitor. Tokyo. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. "Iranian oil officials threatened with purge". Edmonton Journal. 2 October 1979. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  6. Ali Ayoubi (2 February 2016), "مروری بر کارنامه انجمن اسلامی مهندسین", Shargh (in Persian) (2511), archived from the original on 29 November 2016, retrieved 28 November 2016
  7. Shaul Bakhash (1982). The Politics of Oil and Revolution in Iran: A Staff Paper. Brookings Institution Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8157-1776-8.
  8. Bahman Baktiari (1996). Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. p. 69.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  9. Hossein Amirsadeghi (2012). The Security of the Persian Gulf (RLE Iran A). Routledge. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-415-61050-6.
  10. Rubin, Barry (1980). Paved with Good Intentions (PDF). New York: Penguin Books. p. 283. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013.
  11. "Bani Sadr: US should admit Iran crimes". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 29 January 1980. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  12. "Iran leader fires national oil firm head". St. Petersburg Times. London. AP. 29 September 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  13. Hossein Shahidi. Journalism in Iran: From Mission to Profession. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-134-09391-5. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  14. Hosseini, Mir M. "5 February 1979 A.D.: Bazargan Becomes Prime Minister". Fouman. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  15. "Oil chief replaced". The Glasgow Herald. Tehran. 29 September 1979. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  16. Dilip Hiro (1987). Iran Under the Ayatollahs. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7102-1123-1. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  17. "The Economy according to Islam". New Internationalist. 1 September 1980. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  18. "Bani Sadr disowns most of long-awaited cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 1 September 1980. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  19. "Joint Crisis: Supreme Defense Council of Iran, 1980" (PDF). Harvard Model United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  20. Reza Haghighat Nejad (19 August 2013). ""Put That Gun in Your Pocket!" The 10 Most Embarrassing Moments in Iran's Parliament". Iran Wire. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  21. "Human Rights and Parliamentary Elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran". Human Rights Watch. 8 (1). March 1996. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  22. Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi; Ali Mohammadi (January 1987). "Post-Revolutionary Iranian Exiles: A Study in Impotence". Third World Quarterly. 9 (1): 108–129. doi:10.1080/01436598708419964. JSTOR 3991849.
  23. "Letter to Giorgio Napolitano" (PDF). The European Association for Earthquake Engineering. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  24. "Iran's First Petroleum Minister Ali Akbar Moinfar Dies at 90". Ilna. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.

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