Mozaffar Alam

Alam was born in Trabzon in 1882.[1] His father, Mirzā ʿAli Akbar Khan Moʿtamed al Wezāra Qazvini, was a ranking officer in the ministry of foreign affairs and served in consular positions in Baku, Istanbul, Damascus and Baghdad.[1]

Alam received primary and secondary education in Baku and Tehran.[1] Then he attended the Ottoman military school.[1] Next he attended Saint Sier military school of France in artillery field. He continued his training in infantry.[2]

After completing his education and returning to Iran, Alam began to work at the ministry of foreign affairs, and then was appointed Iranian consul in Damascus.[2] However, he resigned from his post to pursue security career. He was promoted the deputy and then the chief of security forces.[2] Next he began to serve as the head of Cossack brigade. Alam was promoted colonel and then brigadier general.[2] After the 1921 coup, he was appointed governor of Esfahan. Later he served as the governor of Kurdestan.[2] From 1934 to 1950, he served as the minister of foreign affairs in three different cabinets. In 1950, he was appointed the governor of Azerbaijan. In 1951 he was named extraordinary ambassador and plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia.[3]

In August 1953 he was ambassador in Baghdad. On 17 August when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had a stopover there, of his twin-engined Beechcraft, where, he said, the Iranian ambassador tried to have him arrested.[4] On 21 August 1953 the Shah returned to Baghdad from Rome. At the airport, he was officially received by the Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah and members of the Iraqi Cabinet. He declined to receive the Persian Ambassador to Iraq, Muzaffar Alam, or any members of his staff. Following the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Alam went to Syria where he stayed for a while before leaving for France. He stayed in France until 1971 after he had permission to return to Iran.[1]

Alam died in Tehran in 1973 at age 91.[1] His family was not permitted to organize a funeral ceremony for him.[1]