January 7, 1979, Page 3Buy Reprints
TEHERAN, Iran, Jan. 6 - The makeup of the Cabinet announced today by Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar showed that he had failed to win the alle- giance of the leaders of the main religious and secular opposition groups, but it in- eluded technocrats of proven administra- tive ability.
Although several prominent members of the National Front had considered deserting its leader, Karim San jabs, to join Dr. Bakhtiar, all ultimately decided not to do so. The front, whose members include most of the leading political oppo- nents of Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlevi, expelled Dr. Bakhtiar last week.
The new Prime Minister was also una- ble to recruit anyone publicly identified with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini or the other Moslem religious leaders who have organized the effort to depose the Shah. Tonight the Ayatollah termed the new Cabinet illegal and a “plot against the people.” In a letter from France, where he is in exile, he called on Government employees to oppose the new ministers.
The 14 Cabinet members, including Dr. Bakhtiar, are on balance a younger group than expected. Most are or have been civil servants, and six have worked at in the Ministry of Labor, where Dr. Bakh- tiar served as Under Secretary in the 1950's. The Prime Minister has taken on the post of Interior Minister.
It is a thoroughly middle‐class Cabinet, containing no members of religious mi- norities. However, at least two members, a preliminary analysis indicates, repre- sent restive ethnic minorities - the Kurds and the Azerbaijanis, who live in northwest Iran.
By and large, this is a Government of new faces, designed to symbolize a break with the turbulent past. A few, such as the new Postal Minister, Lotfali Samimi, a low‐ranking civil servant, are complete unknowns. But most are well known within their professional circles.
Perhaps the most controversial ap- pointment was that of Abbas Qoli Bakhti- ar, a cousin of the Prime Minister, as Minister of Industry and Mines. A 51- year‐old civil engineer who won honors degrees from the Universities of Glasgow and London, Abbas Qoli Bakhtiar planned the Abadan petrochemical com- plex and is regarded as one of the coun- try's most talented chemical engineers.
Popular General a Member
By all estimates, the most important of Dr. Bakhtiar's accomplishments - one that had been widely predicted - was the obtaining of the services of Gen. Feridun Djam as War Minister. A former Chief of Staff, he was dismissed by the Shah in 1971, one analyst commented, for being “too good, too competent, too popular, too much his own man.”
While serving as Ambassador to Spain and then living in exile in London, General Djam retained the affection of his military colleagues, yet won the re- spect of the opposition. At 64, he is consid- ered the ideal man to effect the difficult liaison between the new Government and pro‐Shah elements in the army.
Following are other major figures in the new Cabinet:
Yahya Sadeq Vaziri, the Justice Minister, a 68-year-old former Teheran prosecutor, reached high office under re- cent regimes, though he is considered a friend by the opposition. Matin Daftari, a National Front lawyer who turned down the job, hailed Mr. Vaziri's appointment.
Ahmed Mirfendereski, 60, the Foreign Minister, is a career diplomat who was dismissed in 1973 when he authorized Soviet flights over Iran during the 1973 Middle East war without asking the Shah. A Western diplomat said Mr. Mirfendere- ski, a former Ambassador to Moscow, “is as good a man as we could hope for.”
Rostam Pirasteh, 42, the Finance Minister, was educated at Harvard, Yale and Columbia Universities and lived for 20 years in the United States. He returned to Iran as managing director of the Inter- national Bank of Iran, 35 percent of which is owned by the Chase Manhattan Bank.
A number of the new ministers come from prominent families, including Dr. Manuchehr Razmara, in charge of Health and Welfare, who is related to a former Prime Minister, and Manuchehr Aryana, Labor and Social Affairs Minis- ter, a cousin of a five‐star general.
Mohammed Amin Riahi, the Education Minister, is a scholar whose principal work is titled “The Influence of Persian Language and Literature on the Ottoman Realm.” And Cyrus Amuzegar, a Minis- ter of State and Minister of Information and Tourism, who is not related to former Prime Minister Jamshid Amuzegar, is a man of diversified interests who has writ- ten 200 plays and short stories and worked in the Labor Ministry.
Other Cabinet members included Javad Khadem Ahmacl‐Abadi, Minister of Housing and Town Planning; Mo- hammed Moshiri Yazdi, Minister of State and Assistant Prime Minister, and Manu- chehr Kazemi, Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources.