Mohammad Masud (1905–1948) was an Iranian journalist and writer. He published some books and launched a weekly newspaper, Mard-i Imruz (Persian: The Man of Today). He was an ardent critic of the Pahlavi rule and Ahmad Qavam. Masud was assassinated in February 1948.

Mohammad Masud
Born
Mohammad Masud Qummi

1905
Died13 February 1948 (aged 42–43)
OccupationJournalist
Years active1930s–1948
Known forFounder of Mard-i Imruz

Biography

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Masud was born in 1905.[1][2] He went to Belgium to study journalism[3] in 1935 when he was awarded a government scholarship and returned to Iran in 1938 following his graduation.[4] He applied for a state institution for employment, but his application was denied.[4] After this incident he became a critic of Reza Shah.[4]

In 1942 Masud published an autobiography entitled Guha'i keh dar Jahannam Miruyand (Persian: Flowers which Grow in Hell).[5] Next year he published another book, Bahar-i Umr (Persian: The Spring of Life).[5] In 1942 he also started his journalism career launching a weekly newspaper entitled Mard-i Imruz in which he published critical articles and political cartoons which targeted Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam and his cabinet.[4] Journalist and future foreign minister Hossein Fatemi was one of Masud's close friends who contributed to Mard-i Imruz.[6] In October 1947 Masud publicly argued in the paper that Qavam should be murdered due to the oil concession treaty with the Soviet Union.[4] Homa Katouzian argues that Masud employed his paper to get money from the rich whom he attacked through sensational news about them.[7]

Four months later on 13 February 1948 Masud was assassinated by a squad led by Noureddin Kianouri.[1][7] The group was linked to the Tudeh Party.[7] His assassination was the first of the political killings which continued into the 1950s in Iran.[7]

Hossein Fatemi was delivering a speech in a ceremony for Masud at his grave on 13 February 1952 when he became a target of the assassination attempt by a member of the Fedayan-e Islam.[8] Although he survived this attack, he was severely injured.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Laurence Paul Elwell-Sutton (1968). "The Iranian Press, 1941-1947". Iran. 6: 97. doi:10.2307/4299603. JSTOR 4299603.
  2. ^ Ali Mirsepassi (2018). Iran's Troubled Modernity. Debating Ahmad Fardid's Legacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 340. doi:10.1017/9781108566124.017. ISBN 9781108476393. S2CID 166581491.
  3. ^ Liora Hendelman-Baavur (2019). Creating the Modern Iranian Woman. Popular Culture between Two Revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 62. doi:10.1017/9781108627993. ISBN 9781108627993. S2CID 211433811.
  4. ^ a b c d e Camron Michael Amin (August 2001). "Selling and Saving "Mother Iran": Gender and the Iranian Press in the 1940s". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 33 (3): 337–338. doi:10.1017/S0020743801003014. PMID 18159657. S2CID 6159141.
  5. ^ a b Mohammad M. Aman (2021). Language and Literature of the Middle East. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. p. 7-PA147. ISBN 978-1-315-45972-1.
  6. ^ Ebrahim Norouzi (25 April 2008). "Dr. Hossein Fatemi Biography". The Mossadegh Project. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Homa Katouzian (2008). "Private Parts and Public Discourses in Modern Iran". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 28 (2): 290. doi:10.1215/1089201x-2008-006.
  8. ^ a b Hassan Mohammadi Nejad (1970). Elite-Counterelite Conflict and the Development of a Revolutionary Movement: The Case of Iranian National Front (PhD thesis). Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. p. 82. ISBN 9798657957457. ProQuest 302536657.