Talking to Doctor Hussein Khatibi, the Vice President of National Consultative Assembly; the Second Pahlavi from Confusion to Dictatorship

Hossein Khatibi

By: Morteza RasouliPour

I remembered that on August 28, 1947, Doctor Moazzemi offered me to participate at a meeting of the former Red Sun and Lion Population.

It was about that the population advocates made decision to announce a week which called it '' the Red Sun and Lion week'' to find the issue's profits and during the week, they intended to collect donates. One of those people, who were invited at meeting, was Doctor Moazemi. He stated that" I'm too busy, but I refer you someone who can help you in this case"; therefore, I followed him at this meeting. I remembered that the all directors' board who took part at the meeting were: Doctor Amir Alam, Doctor Hassan Adham (Hakim al- Doleh), Sadeq Vasiqi, Doctor Abbas Nafisi and Doctor Ismael Marzban. In addition to, Mirza Fazl Allah Khan Bahramh, the former mayor of Tehran, also was invited at the meeting. His brother- in- law, Doctor Ali Farahmandi, the general director of culture ministry, also accompanied him at the meeting.

In that time, the former oil company paid 10 thousands Tعman monthly, which was the Red Sun and Lion profits and incomes, to the population to contribute them and amount of membership fee that was not considerable.

At the meeting, the directors' board made decision that Doctor Farahmandi and I set the plan for the Red Sun and Lion week and performed it ourselves. I recalled that we prepared a complete program for it and suggested many ways for collecting profits which were approved. The week was held well and I reminded that we collected 600 thousands Tuman which was a remarkable amount. It was almost 4 times more than the populations' annual income.

After ending work and presenting report and after doing the duty, we decided to leave but the population directors' board asked us to continue and we had to stay there. I was selected as the population advertising department and Doctor Farahmandi was elected as the director of administrative affairs and we were the members of the directors' board.

The year of 1947 came to an end. In early 1948, the elections of the population directors' board were renewed. Doctor Farahmandi became the managing director and I stayed the same previous position and other members were Doctor Alam who was the population founder and Doctor Hassan Adham was the Vice President. Sadeq Vasiqi was selected as treasurer and Doctor Abbas Nafisi was the population's general secretary.

¨As you said, Doctor Abdullah Moazemi made that you accept the services responsibilities and the political works. Please talk a little about him.

His father was one of the well- known owners of Golpaygan. He went to Europe to finish his studying in the law's major in French. In 1940, he returned to Iran and employed in Tehran University in Law school. He was not a significant figure in professorship position. But he was an active, well- spoken and social man and he was an interested in the political activities. Thus, in the fourteenth period, he was the lawyer of the Assembly. Generally, he entered in the Assembly and elected as the Vice President. He stayed in the position till in the seventeenth period, he achieved the president position. He was one of the opponents of Doctor Mossadeq Referendum and he decided not to resign the Assembly with some representatives. Other representatives leaved the Assembly and Doctor Mossadeq. But Moazemi opposed them and I remembered that after 1953 Iranian coup d'état, he told me that Zahedi proposed him, it was better to invite the Assembly representatives to formed it again, because the Assembly was abolished against the law and the same Assembly backed to work, but he refused the proposal.

(The complete text of the interview has been published in the seventh journal).