Javad Ameri (; 1891 – 10 January 1980; better known as Mirza Javad Khan Ameri) was an Iranian politician. He served as member of Parliament for Semnan and Dameghan from 1944 until 1953. He was previously acting minister of foreign affairs, minister of justice and minister of the interior.
Early life Ameri was born in Semnan, Iran, in 1891. After the death of his father Mirza Abol-Hassan Khan (Moinolmamalek), when encroachments by rival families against his family and their estates increased, Gohar Khanoum, Ameri's mother, moved her family of three sons and one daughter (Nayereh, Javad, Mehdi and Massoud) to Tehran.Burrell, Robert Michael, Iran Political Diaries, 1881-1965: 1935-1938, Archive Editions, 1997, Page 376f., Page 592f
Ameri, who belonged to a learned family, started his schooling at the age of five. He continued his elementary and secondary education in Tehran, attending the well-known Aghdassieh School. He then attended the Advanced School of Political ScienceEnayat, Hadi, Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran: Constitutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform, 1906-1941, Palgrave Macmillan, Page 95 – at the time one of two schools of higher education in Tehran, the other one being the famous Dar ol-Fonun.
In order to continue his studies, Ameri left Iran for France and studied law at the Sorbonne, finishing his studies at the age of 23. This coincided with the beginning of World War I and the forced repatriation of foreign students from France.
Career On the insistence of Adolphe Perney, the French legal advisor to the Iranian Ministry of Justice, Ameri accepted to enter the service of the Ministry and act as Perney's deputy. In 1919, Nosrat od-Dowleh Firouz, the minister of justice, decided to establish an Advanced School of Law in order to provide the department and the legal profession with qualified personnelArjomand, Said Amir, Brown, Nathan J., The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran, SUNY Press, 2013, Page 27 and competent lawyers, respectively.Enayat, Hadi, Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran: Constitutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform, 1906-1941, Palgrave Macmillan, Page 95, Page 116
Since Perney did not speak Persian, the main burden of establishing the School fell on Ameri's shoulders. While working at the Justice Ministry and assuming the management of the Law School, he also taught a number of courses, including Private International Law, Commercial Law and Criminal Law.
Ameri was rising through the ranks in the Ministry of Justice, but in 1937, the Foreign Minister asked Reza Shah to allow Ameri's transfer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the Foreign Ministry, first he replaced the French legal advisor who had previously left Iran. Subsequently, he was appointed Director-General for Internal Affairs, Director-General for Political Matters, Deputy Foreign MinisterNahavandi, Houchang, La révolution iranienne: vérité et mensonges, L'AGE D'HOMME, 1999, Page 23 and finally acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.Afkhami, Gholam Reza, The Life and Times of the Shah, University of California Press, 2008, Page 69, Page 79ff.Kulikov, Andrey S., The Sickness Bequeathed: Islamic Anti-Semitism, Nazi Fascism and Ethno-centric Nationalism Continuity in the Muslim Middle East, ProQuest, 2008, Page 36
In 1941, at the time of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, Ameri was responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and thus played a key role in the subsequent developments.Guilak, Hooshang, Fire Beneath the Ashes, Xlibris Corporation, 2011, Page 181 Shortly thereafter, since presence of foreign troops on Iranian soil had caused major internal problems, Rezā Shāh ordered Ameri to assume the responsibilities of the Minister of Interior.
After Rezā Shāh's abdication, in one of Ghavam-Saltaneh's cabinets,Milani, Abbas, The Shah, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011, Page 117 Ameri became Minister of JusticeAfkhami, Gholam Reza, The Life and Times of the Shah, University of California Press, 2008, Page 95f. and subsequently Minister of Interior again. Leaving the service of government, he ran for Parliament and became MP for Semnan and Dameghan. He was reelected to the Parliament three more times (14th to 17th sessions). While he was an MP, Prime Minister Ghavam asked him to join the delegation he was heading to Moscow as No.2. The mission of this delegation was to have discussions with Stalin in order to arrange an end to the continued occupation of Azarbaijan by the Soviet Union.
After the 1953 coup against the legal government of the day, headed by Dr. Mossaddegh,Katouzian, Homa, Musaddiq and the Struggle for Power in Iran, I.B.Tauris, 1999, Page 278 the Shah prevented Ameri from running for Parliament again. Returning to government service Ameri assumed the positions of Attorney-General (Prosecutor-General) and Ambassador to Austria,Österreichische Zeitschrift für Aussenpolitik, Volume 1, W. Braumüller, 1960 retiring in 1960.
Ameri died in Tehran on 10 January 1980 at the age of 89.Bullard, Reader, Letters From Teheran: A British Ambassador in World War II Persia (edited by E.C. Hodgkin), I.B. Tauris, London and New York, 1991Siassi, Ali Akbar, La Perse au contact de l'occident, Ernest Lecroux, Paris, 1931
Personal life In 1935, Ameri had a son, Houshang.
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