Abbas Amir-Entezam, Most Famous Political Prisoner of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dies
Abbas Amir-Entezam, a prominent official in the first government after the revolution and the most famous political prisoner of the Islamic Republic of Iran, died at the age of 86 after a prolonged period of imprisonment.
Iranian news agencies, citing Elaheh Amir-Entezam, the wife of this prominent Iranian figure, confirmed his death. He was born in 1932.
With the advent of Mehdi Bazargan’s government, Abbas Amir-Entezam rose to positions including Deputy Prime Minister in the interim government and ambassador of the Islamic Republic to Scandinavia and Sweden. He served as spokesman of Bazargan’s interim government at one point.
In 1979, at the height of the crisis surrounding the hostage-taking of American diplomats and embassy staff, Mr. Amir-Entezam was also arrested. After a lengthy trial, he was initially sentenced to death on charges of cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, known as the CIA, but his execution was commuted to life imprisonment.
His opposition to the position of Supreme Leader, the Guardian Jurist, in the Assembly of Experts that reviewed the Iranian constitution was cited as one of the reasons that brought Amir-Entezam under the wrath of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Mr. Amir-Entezam was imprisoned for two decades, but from the mid-1990s, sometimes due to his health condition, he spent time on furlough.
Prince Reza Pahlavi also reacted to Amir-Entezam’s death in a tweet, writing: “Amir-Entezam endured the harshest pressures but never surrendered to the corrupt sect.”
