Nasser Farbod

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 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 , Colonel , 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 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.