Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi

Who was Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi?

Abdollah Khan Amir Tahmasebi was a senior military commander, instrumental in the fall of the Qajar dynasty and rise to power of Reza Shah Pahlavi.

He first became well known in Azerbaijan for successful restoration of law and order, gaining widespread recognition and popularity there. He was then appointed governor of Tehran by Reza Shah, replaced in Azerbaijan by Mohammad Hosein Airom. In 1925, he became Minister of War.

In 1928, while en route to Lurestan to visit a road construction site with some engineers, his group was ambushed by unknown assailants near Borujerd. He died shortly after due to bullet wounds in a hospital in Borujerd.

Reza Shah showed up at his funeral in person to pay respects. Yet it was widely believed that the ambush was ordered by Reza Shah himself, as he felt increasingly threatened by Abdollah Khan AmirTahmasebi's rising popularity and military respect. This claim has not been verified, and he might have easily fallen prey to an ambush by Lur tribesmen who were dissatisfied by the central government's policies in that state.