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SAVAK: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Founding And Foreign Backing —
SAVAK.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Tehran, 1957. A national security law officially birthed the Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State. This agency would become known simply as SAVAK. It emerged from the ashes of a political upheaval that occurred three years prior. The 1953 Iranian coup d'état removed Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq from power. Mosaddeq had sought to nationalize Iran's oil industry and weaken the Shah's authority. Following this event, monarch Mohammad Reza Shah established an intelligence service with police powers. His goal was to strengthen his regime by placing political opponents under surveillance. French intelligence provided crucial assistance during these formative years. The Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage trained SAVAK personnel in counter-subversion techniques. These instructors brought expertise refined during the Algerian War. CIA officers also played a significant role in establishing the organization. They provided both funding and training to the new agency. Major General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf trained virtually all of the first generation of SAVAK personnel. By October 1956, state media reported on the intended establishment of such an agency. In 1965, the agency received its official name: Sazeman-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar.
Torture Methods And Brutality
February 1971 marked a turning point in SAVAK's reputation for ruthless brutality. A small band of armed Marxists attacked a gendarmerie post in the Caspian village of Siahkal. This incident prompted interrogators to seek scientific training abroad to prevent unwanted deaths from brute force. Brute force remained supplemented by the bastinado, which involved beating the soles of feet. Sleep deprivation became another standard tool used against detainees. Extensive solitary confinement isolated prisoners from human contact. Glaring searchlights kept inmates awake at night. Standing in one place for hours on end caused physical exhaustion. Nail extractions removed fingernails or toenails from victims. Snakes were favored for use with female prisoners. Electrical shocks delivered via cattle prods often targeted the rectum. Cigarette burns scarred skin and flesh. Sitting on hot grills inflicted severe pain. Acid dripped into nostrils to cause burning sensations. Near-drownings suffocated those held underwater. Mock executions terrified prisoners before actual death arrived. An electric chair featured a large metal mask to muffle screams while amplifying them for the victim. Prisoners were humiliated by being raped, urinated on, and forced to stand naked. Despite new methods, the traditional bastinado remained the torture of choice. The primary goal was to locate arms caches, safe houses, and accomplices.
Leadership And Internal Structure
General Hassan Pakravan served as director of SAVAK from 1961 to 1966. He maintained an almost benevolent reputation during his tenure. Pakravan dined weekly with Ayatollah Khomeini while Khomeini was under house arrest. He later intervened to prevent Khomeini's execution because it would anger common people of Iran. After the Iranian Revolution, Pakravan became one of the first Shah officials executed by the Khomeini regime. General Nematollah Nassiri replaced Pakravan in 1966. Nassiri was a close associate of the Shah who reorganized the service. The agency grew increasingly active amid rising communist, socialist, and Islamist militancy. SAVAK divided itself into nine distinct directorates. These included cadres, foreign intelligence, internal security, and counterintelligence units. Technical affairs handled equipment needs while administration managed logistics. Liaison offices coordinated with other agencies across borders. Archives and passport departments preserved records and controlled travel documents. Over years, historians debated the number of employees within the organization. Estimates ranged from 4,000 to 6,000 members according to scholar Gholam Reza Afkhami. TIME magazine stated in February 1979 that the agency had exactly 5,000 members. Some sources claimed figures as high as 30,000 or even 60,000 personnel.
International Surveillance Operations
During its height, SAVAK operated detention centers like Evin Prison within Tehran. Its tasks extended beyond domestic security to surveillance of Iranians abroad. Agents monitored citizens living in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Students receiving government stipends faced particular scrutiny from these operatives. The agency collaborated closely with the CIA by sending agents to an air force base in New York. There they shared interrogation tactics with American counterparts. Mansur Rafizadeh served as SAVAK's United States director during the 1970s. He reported that General Nassiri's phone was tapped by rivals. Rafizadeh later wrote about his life as a SAVAK man in a book titled Witness. He detailed human rights violations committed under the Shah's rule. Suspicion lingered that Rafizadeh functioned as a double agent working for the CIA simultaneously. SAVAK also supported Jamiat-e Islami militants during uprisings in Afghanistan. These operations occurred alongside collaboration with the CIA and Pakistani ISI. Afghan relations improved in 1976 under Mohammad Daoud Khan. Two days before the Saur Revolution in 1978, KGB operatives learned of planned coups through Afghan Army leaders Mohammed Rafie and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy. Intelligence leaks suggested SAVAK tricked the PDPA into starting rebellions expecting failure.
Human Rights And Public Resentment
Time magazine described SAVAK on the 19th of February 1979 as Iran's most hated institution. It had tortured and murdered thousands of the Shah's opponents according to their report. The Federation of American Scientists found it guilty of executing political prisoners. Their list included electric shock, whipping, beating, inserting broken glass, pouring boiling water into rectums, tying weights to testicles, extracting teeth and nails. Despite these atrocities, prison conditions changed overnight when Jimmy Carter became U.S. president. Carter raised human rights issues regarding the Imperial State of Iran. Inmates dubbed this period the dawn of jimmykrasy. Public resentment grew against repression tactics used by the agency. This discontent was leveraged by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini while he remained in exile. He built popular support for his Islamic philosophy using SAVAK's brutality as evidence. Ervand Abrahamian estimated that SAVAK killed 368 guerrillas between 1971 and 1977. Executions reached up to 100 political prisoners during those same years. This represented the most violent era of the agency's existence. Leaflets circulated after the revolution claimed 15,000 Iranians officially served in SAVAK plus many unofficial employees.
Dissolution And Post-Revolution Legacy
SAVAK closed down shortly before the overthrow of the monarchy in February 1979. Following the Shah's departure in January 1979, over 3,000 central staff members faced reprisals. It is believed Khomeini may have retained some agents into a new organization called SAVAMA. Hossein Fardoust, a former classmate of the Shah, switched sides during the revolution. He managed to salvage much of the original SAVAK structure under different leadership. Charles Kurzman argued that SAVAK never truly dismantled but changed names and continued with similar codes. The ministry became known as VEVAK or Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran. A museum opened in the former Towhid Prison in central Tehran named Ebrat. Exhibits there display documented atrocities committed by SAVAK. These exhibits serve as reminders of the regime's brutality. The transition marked the end of an era defined by fear and surveillance. Public memory preserved the history through these physical spaces dedicated to truth-telling.
When was SAVAK officially established and what law created it?
SAVAK was officially birthed by a national security law in 1957. State media reported the intended establishment of such an agency by October 1956, but the Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State emerged from political upheaval three years prior to its formal creation.
Who trained the first generation of SAVAK personnel and which foreign agencies assisted them?
Major General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf trained virtually all of the first generation of SAVAK personnel. French intelligence provided crucial assistance during these formative years while CIA officers also played a significant role in establishing the organization through funding and training.
What specific torture methods did SAVAK use against detainees after February 1971?
Brute force remained supplemented by the bastinado which involved beating the soles of feet. Sleep deprivation became another standard tool used against detainees alongside extensive solitary confinement and glaring searchlights that kept inmates awake at night.
How many members worked within SAVAK according to official estimates and TIME magazine reports?
Estimates ranged from 4,000 to 6,000 members according to scholar Gholam Reza Afkhami. TIME magazine stated in February 1979 that the agency had exactly 5,000 members while some sources claimed figures as high as 30,000 or even 60,000 personnel.
When did SAVAK close down and what organization replaced it after the revolution?
SAVAK closed down shortly before the overthrow of the monarchy in February 1979. The ministry became known as VEVAK or Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran following the transition marked by fear and surveillance.