Among Azhari’s first acts were the arrest and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Hoveida, the former head of SAVAK, the former head of the national police, the former mayor of capital and several more former ministers and high dignitaries. These wanton acts were again carried out in the hope of appeasing the revolutionaries. On the eve of 20 December, Prime Minister Gholam Reza Azhari suffered a massive heart attack. He tendered his resignation to the Shah on 31 December 1978.