Karim Bakhtiar Sanjabi (Persian: کریم بختیار سنجابی; September 11, 1905 – July 4, 1995) was an Iranian politician, a member of The National Consultative Assembly.
[4] Sanjabi and Allahyar Saleh led the Iran Party, a nationalist, progressive, leftist and anti-Soviet group, in the 1950s.
Mossadegh had led the movement to nationalize the British-controlled oil industry in Iran (which, after nationalization, became known as the National Iranian Oil Company) and after this was accomplished, he became engaged in a heated battle with the British (who had previously controlled the oil industry and wished to reassert control over it) and with the forces rallying around Mohammad Reza Shah (the king of Iran who was opposed to Mossadegh's policies vis-a-vis the British, as well as the prime minister's efforts at limiting the Shah's power and influence).
[6] As the general secretary of the National Front during the revolutionary uprising of 1978–1979, Sanjabi and his colleagues initially wished to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Shah.
Despite the rising revolutionary fervor, Sanjabi and many other liberals had remained loyal to the idea of a constitutional monarchy with the Shah as ceremonial figurehead and they wished to bring Khomeini over to their point of view.
[7] After the overthrow of the monarchy on 11 February 1979, Khomeini "explicitly refused to put the same word, democracy, into either the title of the Republic or its constitution.
"[9] Sanjabi served as the foreign minister of the provisional government led by Mehdi Bazargan between 11 February and 1 April 1979, replacing Ahmad Mirfendereski in the post.
Sanjabi also condemned Shahpour Bakhtiar for accepting the Prime minister position offer by the Shah.