Nasser Farbod

Timsar Seyyed Nasser Farbod
ناصر فربد
Farbod in 1979
Chief of the Joint Staff
In office 27 March 1979 – 12 July 1979
Prime Minister	Mehdi Bazargan
Supreme Leader	Ruhollah Khomeini
Preceded by	Mohammad-Vali Gharani
Succeeded by	Mohammad-Hossein Shaker
Director of the War College
In office ? – 7 October 1975
Monarch	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime Minister	Amir-Abbas Hoveyda
Iran's military representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
In office ?–?
Personal details
Born	(1922-04-27)27 April 1922 Tehran, Qajar Iran
Died	26 April 2019(2019-04-26) (aged 96) Tehran, Iran
Party	Iran Party
Other political affiliations	National Front
Education	Officers' Academy U.S. Armor School U.S. Staff College War College
Awards	Nishan-e-Quaid-i-Azam
Website	nasserfarbod.com
Military service
Allegiance	Pahlavi Iran Iran
Branch/service	Imperial Iranian Ground Forces Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces
Years of service	1945–1975 1979
Rank	Major General Major General
Unit	7th Infantry Division 1st Infantry Division
Commands	81st Armoured Division (?–1971)
Battles/wars	Iran crisis of 1946 1979 Kurdish rebellion 1979 Turkmen rebellion in Iran 1979 Khuzestan insurgency

Nasser Farbod (Persian: ناصر فربد; 27 April 1922 – 26 April 2019) was an Iranian military officer and political activist who served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army from 27 March 1979 until his resignation on 12 July 1979. He was a member of the National Front.

Early life and education

Farbod was born on 26 April 1922 in Tehran. After completing his primary and secondary education, he entered the Iranian Military Academy. He later pursued extensive specialized military training abroad. In 1956, he completed specialized armoured warfare training at the Fort Knox Armor School in Kentucky, United States. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1960. He also completed advanced courses at the National Defense University of Iran in 1967 and the Command and Staff College in Pakistan in 1970.

Military career

Imperial era

Farbod with the rank of Brigadier General

Farbod specialized in armored warfare and held various command positions within the Imperial Iranian Ground Forces. By 1971, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and appointed commander of Iran's armored units. He served as Iran's military representative to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and was awarded the Quaid-e-Azam medal by the Government of Pakistan for his strategic contributions. On 7 October 1975, Farbod was dismissed from his post as commander of the Military Academy by General Gholam Reza Azhari, acting under direct orders from Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Following his removal, he was reassigned as an adjutant to the Imperial Army Staff and subsequently retired.

Post-Revolutionary era

Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Farbod aligned with nationalist factions and, alongside other military figures like Major General Mohammad-Vali Gharani, Colonel Nasrollah Tavakoli, Colonel Ezatollah Momtaz, and Brigadier General Hamid Iran-Nejad, formed the military wing of the Revolutionary Council. On 26 March 1979, following the dismissal of Major General Gharani, Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan appointed Farbod as the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, a decision approved by the Revolutionary Council. During his brief tenure, Farbod officially designated 29 Farvardin (18 April) as "Army Day" following a high-level meeting with Prime Minister Bazargan and a delegation of Revolutionary Council members, including Ali Khamenei, Abbas Amir-Entezam, Dariush Forouhar, and Ahmad Sayyed Javadi. Farbod resigned from his position on 21 July 1979 in protest against the Interim Government's military policies and handling of the unrest in Kurdistan.

Political activities

Farbod with national front members in a Nowruz Meeting

Farbod in a national front meeting

Farbod was an active member of the Central Council of the Iran Party. In 2005, the Central Council of the National Front of Iran elected him to its leadership board, a political position he maintained until 2015. He was also one of the prominent signatories of the "90-Signature Letter," a critical petition addressed to the Iranian government regarding political freedoms.

Literary and research work

In addition to his military and political roles, Farbod authored several books and numerous articles focusing on regional strategy, geopolitics, and philosophy. His published works include:

• Us and Colonialism (1963) – later republished as The Fate of Colonialism in Iran
• My Perception of Existence (Agah, 1975) – a philosophical and mystical work written in both verse and prose
• The Role of the Army in Iran's Developments (Koomesh, 2004)

His poems and philosophical essays were also compiled and published by the Saadi Literary Society under the title Modernization in Mysticism and Philosophy.

Death

Farbod died in Tehran on 26 April 2019.