The first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran passes away

The first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Abolhasán Banisadr, died this Saturday in a Paris hospital at the age of 88, after decades of exile in France after his dismissal by Parliament.

"After a long illness, Abolhasán Banisadr died on Saturday in the hospital" Pitié-Salpêtrière of the French capital, announced the official Iranian agency Irna, quoting a close friend of the former head of state.

His family in France confirmed his death. "We want to inform the honorable people of Iran and all independence and freedom activists that ... Abolhasan Banisadr passed away after a long illness," they said in a statement.

Abolhasan Banisadr, once a close associate of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, was elected president in January 1980. But he was removed by the Iranian parliament in 1981 as his relations with the late Supreme Leader deteriorated. Since then, he has lived in exile in France.

"Dear father"

Banisadr was a moderate: he defended freedom and democracy, and he advocated a liberal Islam. At the age of 17, this practicing Muslim entered the ranks of the National Front, the nationalist movement of Dr. Mohamad Mossadegh, which fought for the independence of Iran and the nationalization of oil.

After studying theology, economics, and sociology, he became a staunch opponent of the shah's regime. Wanted by the police, he had to flee Iran in 1963 and settled in Paris. In 1970, he advocated for the union of the Iranian opposition around Khomeini, who was then in exile in Iraq.

In October 1978, Khomeini traveled to France, and Banisadr became part of his inner circle. He referred to him as "dear father." Later, Banisadr regretted not being able to recognize Khomeini's “taste for power”.

Return to Iran

Banisadr was on board the plane that took the "Guide to the Revolution" back to Iran on February 1, 1979. After passing through the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Banisadr became the first president of the Republic. Iranian elected by universal suffrage on January 26, 1980, with 76% of the vote.

From the beginning of his mandate, Banisadr faced immense difficulties: the crisis of the American hostages, the war with Iraq, the situation in Kurdistan, the economic crisis and, above all, the opposition of the powerful fundamentalist clerics.

As chief of the armed forces from February 1980 to June 1981, he reorganized the Iranian army and spent much of his time at the forefront of the eight-year war with Iraq.

But this defender of an "Islamic third way", respectful of democratic principles, had to finally bow to the power of the mullahs.

Exile

After more than a year of conflict with certain members of the Shiite high clergy and with the Party of the Islamic Republic (majority in Parliament), the democratization process came to a halt.

On June 21, 1981, he was removed by Parliament for “political incompetence”, with the approval of Khomeini. After hiding for a week, he was put on an air force plane hijacked by one of his supporters, and escaped to France, where he was granted asylum and provided with police protection.

Once in exile, he founded the National Council of Resistance of Iran with Masud Rajavi, leader of the Organization of the People's Mujahideen of Iran, and representatives of minority communities such as the Iranian Kurds.

However, Banisadr fell out with Rajavi and subsequently left the council.

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He wrote a book accusing Iran's ayatollahs of conspiring to seize power, and testified about the murders of Iranian dissidents that he blamed on the mullahs. In May 1984 he settled in Versailles, in the Paris region, where he lived under police protection until his death.