Iran: 6th August, the Day a Voice of Reason was Silenced , hat tip Potkin

Today is the anniversary of Shapur Bakhtiar’s murder. A great man with guts and foresight was assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic and with the collusion of Mitterand's Socialist government in France.

Mr. Shapur Bakhtiar About

Age 76

Nationality Iran

Religion Islam (Shi'a)

Civil status Married

Education university diploma

Occupation high ranking government official

Rank/Position Mr. Shapur Bakhtiar was a lawyer and served as Iran's Prime Minister during the last 37 days of the Monarchy.

Affiliation executive, former regime

Affiliation pro-democracy

Case

Date of execution August 6, 1991

Location Suresne, France

Mode of execution extrajudicial-stabbing

Charges Plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic; Treason

Background information

The feud between Dr. Shapur (Chapour) Bakhtiar and the Islamic Republic's authorities can be traced back to the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A lawyer and pro-democracy advocate with social democratic leanings, Dr. Shapur (Chapour) Bakhtiar had been one of the leaders of the liberal, pro-Mosadeq, opposition to the late Shah's dictatorship. During the revolutionary turmoil of 1978, the Shah called, among other moderate opposition figures, upon Dr. Bakhtiar to accept the post of Prime Minister. Bakhtiar accepted the Shah's nomination, because he believed that to be successful the transition to democracy required the restoration of the rule of law and democratic rights. While in office (January 3 to February 11, 1979), he dissolved the political police (SَAVAK), freed all political prisoners, granted freedom of the press, and abolished censorship. He warned the nation against the rise of a new dictatorship and conjured the Iranians to form political parties and trade unions and prepare for elections. Ayatollah Khomeini, the revolutionary leader of Iran's popular movement, who advocated a theocracy, dismissed Bakhtiar's effort to establish democratic rule and called upon the people to rebel against his government. On February 11th, 1979, Bakhtiar's government was toppled by a popular insurrection.
Bakhtiar went into hiding in Iran for six months and then fled to France (July 1979), where he declared his opposition to the newly established Islamic regime and began to advocate for the establishment of a democratic regime. During the same period, in Iran, a group of civilians and active army officers organized into a group named Neghab . They declared their concern about the consolidation of a new dictatorship in Iran, and pledged allegiance to Bakhtiar as the true follower of Mossadeq's path and a pro-democracy leader. On July 7th, 1980, the Iranian authorities claimed to have dismantled a civil and military network of Bakhtiar's supporters, who were accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime. During the following months, over one hundred people were executed for their alleged membership of Neghab and pro-Bakhtiar sympathy. More here.