Ahmad Madani Explained

Honorific Prefix:Timsar
Ahmad Madani
Allegiance:Imperial State of Iran
Branch:Navy
Serviceyears:1950–1972; 1979
Rank:Commodore
Module:
Embed:yes
Office3:Member-elect of the Iranian Parliament
Constituency3:Kerman
Term3:Credentials rejected in 1980[1]
Office:Minister of National Defence
Term Start:22 February 1979
Term End:31 March 1979
Primeminister:Mehdi Bazargan
Predecessor:Jafar Shafaghat
Successor:Taghi Riahi
Office2:Governor of Khuzestan Province
Term Start2:7 April 1979
Term End2:2 January 1980
Primeminister2:Mehdi Bazargan
Predecessor2:Vacant
Successor2:Mohammad Gharazi
Birth Date:July/August 1929
Birth Name:Seyyed Ahmad Madani
Birth Place:Sirjan, Kerman, Imperial State of Persia
Death Place:Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Party:National Front

Seyyed Ahmad Madani (Persian: سید احمد مدنی; July/August 1929 – 12 February 2006), mostly known as Ahmad Madani, was an Iranian politician, Commander of Iranian Navy (1979), governor of the Khuzestan province (1979–80) and candidate in the first Iranian presidential election. Madani became a navy Commodore in 1970, but was removed in 1973. He later became a navy commander after the revolution and was the first ever Minister of Defence under the new regime. Madani was also elected to the first parliament from Kerman, but was not approved. He eventually fled to the United States in 1980.

Pre-Revolution

Ahmad Madani was born in 1929 in Tehran.

He grew up in Kerman before returning to Tehran to pursue university education. Madani studied law at the University of Tehran, before joining the Iranian Navy and moving to England to continue his education. In 1953, Madani reached the rank of Ensign in the navy, and in 1970 he reached the rank of Commodore.

Madani spent most of his service in Bandar Abbas and the Persian Gulf. He was dismissed from the navy in 1973 for his political activities, and until the 1979 revolution he taught political science and economics throughout various universities in Iran.

Electoral history

Year Election Votes % Rank Result
1980President2,224,55415.722ndLost[2]
Parliament45,43759.981stWon

Exile and death

In 1980, Madani discovered that he was accused of communicating with the United States, and thus fled the country.[3] Madani settled in the United States where he was the chairman of the National Front outside of Iran.

Madani died on 12 February 2006 due to cancer, in his home in Colorado.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Baktiari. Bahman. Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. University Press of Florida. 1996. 69. 978-0-8130-1461-6.
  2. Book: Dieter. Nohlen. Dieter Nohlen. Florian. Grotz. Christof. Hartmann. 2001. Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Iran. Oxford University Press. I. 75. 0-19-924958-X.
  3. Book: Nikola B. Schahgaldian. Gina Barkhordarian. The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic. RAND. 0-8330-0777-7. March 1987. 15 January 2017. 113.