When Ali Amini became prime minister of Iran in May 1961, he inherited a country burdened by economic crisis, administrative inefficiency, and deep-seated corruption within the state and military elite. His government came to power with the backing of the Shah, yet its mission quickly placed it in confrontation with entrenched interests across Iran’s bureaucracy and armed forces. Within months, the Amini administration began one of the most publicized anti-corruption campaigns in modern Iranian history, targeting senior military officers and bureaucrats who had long enjoyed immunity under royal patronage.
The decisive moment of this campaign came in October 1961, when Tehran newspapers—chief among them Ettelaat and Kayhan—announced the commencement of what they called “the major trials.” These trials involved high-ranking officers accused of corruption in two major cases: the Fisheries (Shilat) scandal and the Civil Registration corruption affair. Both cases drew immense public attention and ignited controversy at every level of society. They revealed the deep contradictions of Amini’s reformist project—an effort to cleanse the state while preserving the monarchy that had enabled systemic corruption in the first place.
