Abul-Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of the Republic of Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, died in France at the age of 88, where he lived for decades following his ouster.
The death of the president, who had been in office for less than a year and a half, received mixed reactions in Tehran. When the official media broke the news, the conservative media criticized the late president, accusing him of “acting” against the country’s interests.
In a statement from France he addressed “the people of Iran and all those who fight for freedom and independence”, whose family confirmed his death after a “long struggle with disease”.
Bani-Sadr, considered close to Khomeini, was elected President of the Republic in January 1980. But he was deported about 17 months later, after which he took refuge in France.
He was born in Hamadan, in the western part of the country, into a family of many clergymen, including his father. He began his political career at the age of seventeen with the “National Front” led by the late Prime Minister. Mohammed Mossadegh fought to nationalize the oil industry.
He emigrated to Paris in 1963, and in 1970 became one of the founders of the anti-regime trade union and a supporter of the revolutionary leader Khomeini. Bani-Sadr was one of the personalities who accompanied Khomeini on his return trip from Paris to Tehran on February 1, 1979.
He was initially appointed Minister of Economy and later Minister of Foreign Affairs because he was elected with the first majority on January 26, 1980.
However, he clashed with several influential clergymen, including the “Imam Line” and the “Islamic Republican Party”, and was expelled from the Shura Council on June 21, 1981 for “political incompetence”. (Agent)
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