Ebrahim Yazdi

Iranian politician and activist (1931-2017)

Ebrahim Yazdi (26 September 1931[1][2] – 27 August 2017) was an Iranian politician and diplomat. He served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Mehdi Bazargan, until his resignation in November 1979, in protest at the Iran hostage crisis. From 1995 until 2017, he headed the Freedom Movement of Iran.

Ebrahim Yazdi
Yazdi in 2017
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office
28 May 1980 – 28 May 1984
ConstituencyTehran, Rey and Shemiranat
Majority1,128,304 (52.9%)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran
In office
12 April 1979 – 12 November 1979
Prime MinisterMehdi Bazargan
Preceded byKarim Sanjabi
Succeeded byAbulhassan Banisadr
Deputy Prime Minister of Iran for Revolutionary Affairs
In office
13 February 1979 – 12 April 1979
Prime MinisterMehdi Bazargan
Succeeded byMostafa Chamran
Personal details
Born(1931-09-26)26 September 1931
Qazvin, Iran
Died27 August 2017(2017-08-27) (aged 85)
İzmir, Turkey
NationalityIranian
Political partyFreedom Movement of Iran
Other political
affiliations
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
Baylor University

Arrests

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Yazdi was arrested in December 1997 for "desecrating religious sanctities" and freed on 26 December on bail.[3] On 17 June 2009, during the 2009 Iranian election protests, it was reported that Yazdi was arrested while undergoing tests at the Tehran hospital according to the Freedom Movement of Iran website.[4] On 22 June, he was released back to the hospital for a medical procedure.[5] On 28 December 2009, Yazdi was arrested again in the wake of renewed protests.[6]

Yazdi and several others were arrested on 1 October 2010 in Isfahan for participating in an "illegal Friday prayer." All others were freed within days. He was released in April 2011.[7]

Yazdi died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 85 in Izmir, Turkey on 27 August 2017.[8]

References

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  1. Yazdi, Ebrahim; یزدی, دکتر ابراهیم (6 November 2014). "شصت سال صبوری و شکوری: خاطرات دکتر ابراهیم یزدی".
  2. علوی, حمید (27 August 2017). "ابراهیم یزدی؛ معتمدی که مغضوب شد". BBC News فارسی.
  3. "Teheran Court Releases Critic". The New York Times. 26 December 1997. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  4. Tait, Robert (17 June 2009), "Iran elections: mass arrests and campus raids as regime hits back", The Guardian, London, retrieved 18 June 2009
  5. Daily Show interview with Yazdi's son, 22 June 2009
  6. Iran 'at point of no return', ABC News, Anne Barker, 29 December 2009
  7. Katzman, Kenneth (17 June 2013). "Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses" (CRS Report for US Congress). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  8. "Iranian Dissident, Former Foreign Minister Yazdi Dies At 86". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.

Further reading

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  • J D Stempel, Inside the Iranian Revolution, Indiana Univ Press, 1981
  • Sadegh Khalkhali, Khateraateh Khalkhaali (Memoirs of Khalkhaali), Sayeh Publications, Tehran, 2003
  • Abdolali Bazargan, ed, Moshketaal va Masa’ele Av’valeen Saale Enghelaab Az Zabaane Mohandes Bazargaan (Issues of the First Year of the Revolutions as Explained by Mehdi Bazargan), Tehran, 1981