The Regency Council (Persian: شورای سلطنت|Šūrā-ye Salṭanat) of the Imperial State of Iran, was a nine-member body formed on 13 January 1979 by Mohammad Reza Shah to carry out his duties[1] after he left Iran amidst the Iranian Revolution and served as the symbol of his continued claim on power.
The council was practically dissolved within days, when its head resigned on 22 January 1979 to meet Ayatollah Khomeini.[2]
On 28 February 1953, it was reported that in a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, the Shah had agreed that during his absence in Iran a regency council consisting of Mosaddegh, Gholamreza Pahlavi (Shah's brother) and Hossein Ala (Minister of Royal Court) should be appointed to act as the regency council.
| Name[3] | Latest Office | Position in the Council | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jalaleddin Tehrani | Former Senator | |
| 2 | Mohammad Ali Varasteh | Former Minister of Finance | |
| 3 | Shapour Bakhtiar | Prime Minister | |
| 4 | Mohammad Sajjadi | President of the Senate | |
| 5 | Javad Saeid | Speaker of the Parliament | |
| 6 | Gen. Abbas Gharabaghi | Chief-of-Staff of Imperial Iranian Army | |
| 7 | Aligholi Ardalan | Minister of Royal Court | |
| 8 | Abdullah Entezam | Former Chairman of National Iranian Oil Company | |
| 9 | Abdolhossein Ali Abadi | Former Prosecutor-General |
Due to the tensions between Jalaleddin Tehrani and Abbas Gharabaghi Tehrani resigned from the post.[4] He was replaced by Mohammad Ali Varasteh as the head of the council.[4]