Memoirs of Ali Amini [Persian Language]

FROM THE PREFACE

Memoirs of Ali Amini is the first of a number of life histories to published by the Iranian Oral History Project.

The project was launched in the autumn of 1981 at Harvard’s Center for Middle East Studies.It provides scholars endeavoring to study the contemporary political history of Iran with primary source material, consisting of personal accounts of 132 individuals who played major roles in important political events and decisions in Iran from the 1920’s to the 1970’s; or witnessed these events and decisions from close range.

Dr. Ali Amini was prime minister of Iran from 1961 to 1962. Prior to that he served as deputy minister of finance, assistant to Prime Minister Ahmad Ghavam, Majles deputy, and minister of national economy under Prime Ministers Mansour and Mossadegh. As minister of finance under Prime Minister Zahedi, he negotiated and signed the 1953 agreement with the consortium of oil companies. He subsequently served as minister of justice and ambassador to Washington. After being shunned for fifteen years, Ali Amini was called back by the Shah to advise on ways of dealing with the unfolding Revolution of 1979.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Student Days and Work at the Ministry of Justice
• Ministry of Finance
• Cabinet of Ahmad Ghavam
• Cabinet of Ali Mansour
• Cabinet of General Haj Ali Razmara
• Cabinet of Mohammad Mossadegh
• 25-28 Mordad 1332
• Cabinet of General Fazlollah Zahedi
• Cabinet of Hossein Ala
• Ambassador to Washington
• Election for the Twentieth Majles
• Premiership (1961-62)
• Land Reform
• Foreign Influence
• Anti-Corruption Campaign
• Relations between the Government and the Public
• Resignation from Premiership and Its Causes
• Concentration of Power in the Hands of the Shah
• Discussions with the Shah on the Eve of the Revolution
• Possibility of Establishing Democracy in Iran
• Index

EDITOR

Habib Ladjevardi has been the director of the Iranian Oral History Project at Harvard University since 1981. Born in Tehran, he grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y., and was educated at the Yale Engineering School and the Harvard Business School. Dr. Ladjevardi returned to Iran in 1963 and began work as personnel manager in his family's business. Subsequently he was responsible for founding the Iran Center for Management Studies in Tehran, where he taught until 1976. He also served on a number of boards and councils in the private and public sectors. Dr. Ladjevardi received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 1981.