Untold Stories of Abbasqoli Golshaiyan: The Man Whose Name Was Tied to the Most Controversial Oil Deal Before Nationalization

The supplementary oil agreement signed between Abbasqoli Golshaiyan and Neville Gass on 17 July 1949 never won parliamentary approval. Even so, his name became more closely associated with that deal than with any other government post he held, and the debates surrounding it became one of the milestones on the road to the nationalization of the oil industry. He died in Tehran on 11 October 1990.

According to ambassador Arjan; Abbasqoli Golshaian died on 19 Mehr 1369 in Tehran at the age of 88. His name is mostly associated with the contract he signed on July 26, 1328 with Neville Gass, the representative of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. This additional agreement was never approved by the parliament, but the debates around it became part of the nationalization of the oil industry.

From the Qajar family to the law school

Golshaian was born in Tehran in 1981. His father was a descendant of Abbas Mirza and his mother was the daughter of the head of the telegraph house of the Qajar court. He was the fifth child in a family of seven. His father died when he was five years old and the family faced poverty. He later described those years as a time of poverty. He studied elementary education at home, then he went to the French Alliance School and Dar al-Funun. In 1300, he entered the law school of the Ministry of Justice and after graduation, he was employed by the same ministry.

The first was the work of a special interpreter for Monsieur Perni, the judicial adviser. He also worked as a judge for a while. Acquaintance with Ali Akbar Davar changed his path. At the end of 1305, when the arbitrator became the minister of justice, he employed Golshaian as his secretary and then appointed him to the investigation. Then he became an investigator of the Criminal Court, a government employee, a prosecutor of Tehran and finally a prosecutor of the Criminal Court. In this position, he investigated the case of the death of Abdul Hossein Timurtash and wrote the official report.

From the investigation to the Ministry of Finance during the days of occupation

In 1312, the referee went to the Ministry of Finance, and Golshaian was transferred to the Ministry of Finance along with him. First, he became the head of the customs department, then the head of indirect taxes, and finally the director general. When the structure of the ministry was changed, he was also given the deputy economic position. During this period, several government companies that worked in opium, tobacco, and sugar were dissolved or reorganized, and their remaining capital went to the Economic Organization of the Ministry of Finance, which was headed by Golshaian.

In 1320, Brigadier General Reza Qoli Amir Khosravi resigned from the Ministry of Finance, and Golshaian became acting minister for a while. After the formation of Mohammad Ali Foroughi's government, he became the Minister of Finance on 23 Shahrivar. Iran was under the occupation of the Allies and Reza Shah had just handed over the throne to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. One of the first subjects was royal jewels. It was rumored that the jewels had been taken out of the country and the parliament demanded an explanation from the finance minister.

Golshaian said that part of the jewelry that had no historical value has been stored in 33 safes in the National Bank since 1316. Historical jewels were also in Golestan Palace, and on 4th of Shahrivar 1320, due to the insecurity around the palace, they were transferred to the treasury of National Bank. Ahmad Mehbod said in Harvard oral history that Reza Shah had taken a box of jewels with him and the agents took it back from him in Isfahan. "Nothing and sealed. We took the box sealed and gave it to the king, nothing and nothing. It's true, it was extremely dangerous for both of us, but luckily no one knew if they had any idea that they were going to tear us to pieces and take the jewels. This was one of the great services that Ali Qavam and Banda did to the king. Now..." (Ahmed Mehbod in an interview with Harvard Oral History, tape 2)

Golshaian's Ministry of Finance was short in 1320. Later, he became Minister of Commerce and Economy, Minister of Justice, Mayor of Tehran and Governor of Fars, Azerbaijan and Khorasan. In 1324, he was the Minister of Crafts and Arts in Sadr al-Ashraf's cabinet, and then he became the governor of Khorasan.

The following year, Daoud Toosi, a representative of Bojnord in the National Assembly, declared a crime against Golshaian and accused him of allowing the export of katira to Murad Arie, a Jewish capitalist, contrary to the foreign trade monopoly law, which assigns the export of katira only to the state-owned katira company. Because according to the law, the violations of the ministers should be dealt with in the parliament, the justice commission of the parliament investigated the matter and Golshaian explained to the commission that he thought that the law on the monopoly of foreign trade had been canceled and issued this license. But it is late and the goods have been exported. The labor commission recognized Golshaian as a violator; But he did not come to the conclusion that he received a bribe from Aryeh and did not recognize the violation to the extent that prosecution would be necessary.

In 1327, Golshaian returned to the Ministry of Finance in the cabinet of Mohammad Saed Maraghei. In Mehr 1326, the Majlis had passed a law that new concessions would not be given to foreign governments. The government was negotiating with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to amend the 1933 contract. After the governments of Hakimi and Hajir, during the Saed period, negotiations were entrusted to Golshaians.

The Iranian side said that Iran's share of oil income cannot be compared with other countries. There were also protests over taxation, the price of oil sold to the British Navy, and the company's influence in the south. The negotiations lasted for months. On July 26, 1328, an agreement was signed between Golshaian and Neville Gass. Its official text is available in the library and documents center of the Majlis.

Royalties rose from four shillings to six shillings per ton. It was decided that 20% of some amounts of the company's general reserve should be paid every year, and this amount should not be less than four million liras in each financial period. The tax was increased from 9 pence to 1 shilling and a 25% discount was given for domestic consumption. Article 10 of the contract said that the provisions of the 1933 contract would remain in force. Article 11 also made the implementation subject to the approval of the parliament.

In his memoirs, Golshaian considered this agreement as a measure to increase the country's income. Iranica encyclopedia quoted him as saying that he considered it patriotic and beneficial and even believed that it would benefit the country more than Mossadegh's move to nationalize oil. The estimates quoted by Iranica show that Iran's share would have increased from about 22 cents to 33 cents per barrel, and if it had been approved, by 1951 Iran would have received an additional income of about 49 million pounds. William Fraser, the head of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, called it the best offer ever made to any Middle Eastern country.

Opponents said the annexation agreement would keep the 1933 structure and only change the numbers slightly. They pointed to the government's lack of access to the company's accounts and the large gap between the company's profits and payments to Iran. In one of the sources, the profit of the company from the sale of Iranian oil in 1329 is about 200 million liras and the payment to Iran is about 16 million liras.

The 15th Parliament did not approve the contract. In the 16th Parliament, the Special Oil Commission headed by Mohammad Mossadegh examined it and found it insufficient. The rejection of this contract did not lead to the nationalization of oil, but it was one of its links. In March 1329, the oil commission approved the principle of nationalization, and the parliament and the senate also approved it.

In the oral history of Harvard, Abolhasan Ebtahaj said about the bad reputation of the contract and the accusations that were later made against Golshaian: "There was a big uproar over this work of Gus Golshaian, because Gus-Golshaian was one of the phrases that meant treason. For many years, maybe some people still believe that they also influenced Golshayan or bought Golshayan... Anyway, this did not get a good reputation, Golshayan." He himself emphasized that these were only accusations and were not conclusive.

Iranika described him as a hard-working, quiet and honest employee and attributed his stubbornness to his years of judicial work. The sudden poverty of his childhood made him a bitter man and created a "deep sense of pessimism towards everything and everyone" in him. However, he remained loyal to his friends and teachers. Gholam Hossein Darvish Khan taught him to play the string and, according to himself, became like a real father to him. Gulshaian joined the brotherhood association at Darvish Khan's request, and in his retirement years, he found solace in music.

Golshaian remained in the government after the oil crisis. He became the Minister of Justice again. At the end of the 1330s, his name came up in the prime minister's speculations, but he did not reach this position. He himself attributed this issue to differences with foreign powers; Once for refusing to accept British demands for parity between the pound and the rial, and again for refusing to fully commit to working with the Americans.

In the last years, he withdrew from government jobs, became a lawyer and became a judge in some cases. He was also a member of the board of directors of National Bank for some time. In his memoirs, he criticized Mohammad Reza Shah and described him as a weak, hesitant and prone to gossiping and flattery... The loss of his daughter in 1974 and the difficulties he faced after the revolution plunged him into deep sadness. In the final parts of his memoirs, he wrote: "Every day and every night I ask God to speed up my death and end my suffering."

Aqli, Baqir, biography of contemporary political and military men of Iran, third volume, Tehran, Negah Publications, 2013.

Hosseinian, Ruhollah, twenty years of striving for Shiite Islam in Iran, Islamic Revolution Records Center, second edition, 2004, p. 90.

Iqbal, Ismail, The role of England in the coup d'état of 28 August 1332, Tehran, Information, 1375, pp. 35, 36, 38 and 51-52.

Rouhani, Fouad, History of the Nationalization of Iran's Oil Industry, Jibi Books Company, 1993, pp. 74-79.

Mahdavi, Abdolreza Hoshang, History of Iran's Foreign Relations, Volume II, Author's Publication, 1368, pp. 28-29.

Beale, James and Roger, Lewis William, Mossadegh, Naft, Iranian nationalism, translated by Abdolreza Hoshang Mahdavi and Kaveh Bayat, Tehran, New Press, 1368, p. 420.

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Makki, Hossein, Kitab Siah, Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1363, Volume 1, p. 307.

Islamic Council Library, Museum and Document Center, the text of the "Golshaian-Gas annexation bill" and the text of the annexation agreement dated July 26, 1328. 11.

Encyclopædia Iranica, entry "Golshaian, Abbasqoli",

Harvard oral history, Abolhassan Ebtahaj interview, tape 38; About the process of oil negotiations and contemporary perceptions of Gas-Golshaian contract.