Khāṭirāt-i Sarlashkar Muḥammad Daftarī: gūshahʹhāyī az tārīkh-i muʻāṣir-i Īrān Persian 2025

Major General Mohammad Daftari (1904–1983), the narrator of the memoirs contained in this book, was the first member of the old bureaucratic family of Vazir Daftar to enter military service during the era of Reza Shah. He led a highly eventful life. In 1925, he was among the first group sent to Europe to receive higher military education; he went to France, where he completed his studies at the Saint-Cyr military academy. In 1929, he began his service in the modern Iranian army with the rank of second lieutenant.

During the critical decades of the 1940s and 1950s, he was appointed to important military positions such as Commander of the Military Police (Dājbān) and Head of the National Gendarmerie (Shahrbānī-ye koll-e keshvar). He witnessed and observed major events in the history of modern Iran, and in some cases personally participated in them and played active roles.

As a result, these memoirs contain valuable and sometimes unique information. Among the events described are the failed assassination attempt on Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (11 February 1949), the escape of leaders of the Tudeh Party from Qasr Prison (December 1950), the assassination of Prime Minister General Haj Ali Razmara (7 March 1951), and finally the events of 19 August 1953.

In other words, Mohammad Daftari’s memoirs shed light on parts of Iran’s contemporary history, aspects of which are being revealed here for the first time.