Mostafa Chamran

Mostafa Chamran
Born	1932 Tehran, Iran
Died	21 June 1981 Khuzestan Province, Iran
Allegiance	Iranian Army
Years of service	1978 - 1981
Rank	Minister of Defence
Battles/wars	Iran–Iraq War

Mostafa Chamran Savei (1932 – 21 June 1981) was an Iranian scientist who served as first Defence Minister of post-revolutionary Iran and as member of parliament, as well as commander of paramilitary volunteers in Iran–Iraq War. He was killed during the war. He helped found the Amal Movement in southern Lebanon, and fought alongside Amal guerrillas in the late 1970s.

Education

Born in 1932 in Tehran, he became a young student of Ayatollah Taleqani and Morteza Motahari. He studied at Alborz High School and then graduated from Tehran University.

In the late 1960s, he moved to the United States for higher education, obtaining an M.S. degree from the Texas A&M University. He then went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Plasma Physics in 1963 from the University of California, Berkeley .

He was then hired as a senior research staff scientist at Bell Laboratories and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

He was fluent in Persian, English, Arabic, French, and German.

Revolutionary activities

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chamran became politically active. He became a leading and founding member of the Islamic revolutionary movement in the Middle East, organizing and training guerrillas and revolutionary forces in Algeria, Egypt, Syria, especially Amal Movement in southern Lebanon.

Return to Iran

With the Islamic Revolution taking place in Iran, Chamran's career took a sharp turn. He was appointed commander of Iran's Pasdaran, as well as Iran's Minister of Defense, personal military aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the latter's representative to the Supreme Council of Defense. In March 1980, he was elected into the Majlis of Iran (the Iranian Parliament) as a representative from the city of Tehran.

Death

Tomb of Fakoori, Kazemi, Chamran, Namjoo

He was killed in Khuzestan Province on June 21, 1981 as the Iran–Iraq War was raging on. He was later given a hero status and many buildings and streets in Iran and Lebanon, as well as major expressway, were named after him.

References

Video Mustafa Chamran. http://wn.com/Dr_Mustafa_Chamran

External links

• كتاب - صوت
• بازچمران
• Basij Daneshju'ee Shahid Chamran
• IRIB biography
• Official Chamran website
• Voice and Book
• Photos
• Video Clip
• About Chamran in youtube

Political offices
Preceded by Ahmad Madani	Minister of Defence 1979 - 1980	Succeeded by Ali Khamenei
Military offices
Preceded by None	Chief commander of the IRGC 1980 - 1981	Succeeded by Mohsen Rezaee