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Don't call me "Sir" Nosratollah Amini & Mohammad Mossadegh Mossadegh: Humility and integrity in government By Fariba Amini
Aside from immediate family, Amini was the only one allowed to visit Mossadegh in his estate in Ahmadabad, about an hour and a half east of Tehran, where he was exiled by the Shah from 1954 to1969. My father is in his mid 80's. He is frail, but his memory is as vivid as ever. Photo albums and reminiscence of Mossadegh surround him at his home. Here are some of his recollections: * "I used to take care of his personal matters, his will, etc. Until the very last days when he was brought to Tehran from Ahmadabad for treatment. He had been diagnosed with cancer. I was at his bedside. He asked that he be buried in the cemetery where the martyrs of 30th of Tir were laid to rest. He wanted to be laid by the side of those who died for him. I asked the authorities for a special permission. Apparently the Shah himself refused the request. He was laid to rest in his hometown of Ahmadabad."
* "He did not want his picture to be hung anywhere. One day, when I had just started my job at the Tehran municipality, there were many pictures on the walls, including that of Reza Shah. We enlarged a photograph of Dr. Mossadegh and I took it to him to be signed. He became very upset. 'Please tear up this photo,' he said. 'I don't want anyone to make an idol out of me'." * "On another occasion, he asked me to go to his office. There was a lady present. Dr Mossadegh said, 'didn't I ask you not to name any street, alleys or squares after me? This lady claims that the municipality is going to enlarge this street called Mossadegh and as a result her home will be destroyed'. We went there and noticed that one of the streets leading to 24th Esfand Square (now called Enqelab), had been renamed Mossadegh by someone who used a piece of chalk. Dr. Mossadegh was satisfied only after we had cleaned the hand-written name."
* "Dr. Mossadegh's love for people manifested itself in many ways. A year before the famous 30th of Tir incident, the government headed by Dr. Mossadegh had to resign so that a new government could be elected. Dr. Mossadegh did not submit his resignation on the grounds that the Majlis was going to ratify certain licenses that were beneficial only to the export/import merchants. He resigned only after the licenses were rejected. He was always safeguarding the people's interest and looking for ways to serve them." * "When he was ill with cancer and was brought to Tehran for treatment, he was given permission to go abroad. He adamantly refused. He said, 'I am no different from any other Iranian and wants to be treated by Iranian doctors. I will stay in here and die among my own people'."
* "Prior to the CIA coup of 1953, Kianouri of the Tudeh Party came to visit Dr. Mossadegh and warned of a coup being organized against him. Kianouri asked for arms to crush the coup. Dr. Mossadegh's reply was, 'The hands of a prime minister who would arm anyone to kill the people, should be cut'." * "Judge William Douglas, who was one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices at the time, upon his visit to Iran and meeting Dr. Mossadegh, became one of his many admirers and supporters. He later wrote, after the 1953 coup that the U.S. government made a grave mistake towards Dr. Mossadegh. He was not a leftist and he did not have any affiliation with the communists. He was a nationalist in the true sense of the word. Judge Douglas remained a close friend."
* "During his whole tenure as premier, he never accepted any salary and paid for his own trips and his companions on their travels to the United Nations and The Hague. And even when the tax administration had noticed that he had overpaid his taxes on the land he owned, he refused to accept anything in return!" * "Dr. Mossadegh was the true representation of modesty, humility and integrity in government. He believed and advocated true democratic principles for Iran. He was the people's premier. That is the reason why after more than five decades, Iranians consider him the most beloved statesman of Iran. May his path and ways be an example for Iran's future politics."
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