The Memoirs of General Derakhshani [Persian Language]

Brigadier General Ali-Akbar Derakhshani was one of the founding officers of Iran’s modern army, and his memoirs illuminate dark corners and important chapters of Iran’s political and military history during the reigns of three kings.

The most important of these is a detailed account of the events of 1945 in Azerbaijan (the Pishevari affair and the Democrat Party). Compiled on the basis of unpublished political, military, and judicial files, it clarifies many highly significant matters that have never been published anywhere and have remained shrouded in ambiguity. At the time of these events, Brigadier General Derakhshani was serving as the commander of the division and governor of that region. Under extremely difficult conditions he prevented bloodshed, and as a result of intrigues—whose details are described in this book—he was sentenced by a military court to life imprisonment and later to fifteen years of hard labor.

After his release from prison he was known as an opponent of the Pahlavi regime. Finally, in  March of 1978, at the height of the revolutionary uprising, he was arrested by SAVAK and died that same night in Evin Prison.

This book is also very useful in clarifying other chapters of Iranian history and will undoubtedly serve as an important reference in the definitive compilation of the history of the Iranian army during the monarchical period.

At the end of the book, the circumstances of the general’s arrest by SAVAK in 1978 and his martyrdom in Evin Prison are described, based on documents that came to light after the Revolution.