IICHS - Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies

Fatemeh Moezzi

Gholam Abbas Aram was born in 1282 in Yazd. His Father, Alireza Chayforosh was a Baha'i missionary who arrested and killed in Tabriz in conflict between Muslims and Baha'is. He finished his primary education in Yazd’s madrassas and then submitted to School of English missionaries and then moved to Esfahan. Aram moved from Esfahan to India for his university education but after staying a while in Bombay, he went to Calcutta and was engaged in secretary. Afterwards, he was studying in Lamarty College and after finishing this course went to University of Calcutta. In 1302 he was appointed as ambassador Secretarial in the Iranian Consul General in Calcutta. Later, he appointed as translator in Consulate General of Delhi. In 1314, he was summoned to Tehran from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hired as a translator for the English department. He was summoned to Tehran in 1330 and appointed in inspection department and then administration department of political quarters (of the U.S.). During prime minister of Dr. Mossadegh, some evidence of his connection with anti-government elements and Pakistani ancestry were presented and Dr. Mossadegh asked his Ministry of Foreign Affairs to transfer Aram to another department; so he dismissed from his post but after a while he invited back to work again.

In Bahman 1331, Abbas Aram was assigned as consultation of Iranian Embassy in Baghdad and in Mordad 1332 he acted as consultation in Iranian Embassy in Washington. After the coup, he was Iranian minister plenipotentiary in Washington for three years. In 1336 he was appointed to the Iranian embassy in Taipei and Japan. In 1338 he was summoned to Tehran to be appointed in Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Prime Minister Dr. Iqbal. In Sharif Emami’s government, he was assigned to the Iranian embassy in Iraq. During his embassy, some negotiations took place to resolve the border disputes between the two countries.

Aram was appointed to the Foreign Ministry during government of Ali Amini and Alam. During the uprising of 15 Khordad, he was the only one who was summoned from Alam and for a long time the both were looking for a solution behind closed doors. He advocates military government to suppress the uprising of 15 Khordad. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was responsible for Scholars’ complaints about arresting and exiling of Imam Khomeini. He addressed to Ayatollah Mohsen Hakim wrote:

Apparently unsubstantiated information regarding the disposition of scholars in Iran which may make you concern. Hereby strictly I make you sure that first, scholars are living respectful in Iran and secondly, except for two or three people who are still in detention due to the uprising against national security and public interests and they are included royal compassion as well, the rest of people are free and comfortable.

In Hassan Ali Mansour’s government, Aram was appointed to the Foreign Office and until 1346 in Hoveyda’s government he was in the same position. After removal from the Foreign Department, he served in the Iranian embassy in London and remained in this position for five years and then from 1350 to 1353, he was appointed to the Iranian embassy in China. After returning to Tehran, he got his retirement decree and in 1355 was chosen by Shah as an appointed senator in Tehran. He died in 1363 in Tehran. His appointment in Ministry of Foreign Affairs for five consecutive periods due to not having good education was confirmed his dependence on foreign colonization. He was a Freemasons of “Setareh Sahar” and “Keyvan” lodge.