SAVAK

Sâzmân-ē Ettelâ'ât va Amniyat-ē Kešvar (SAVAK)
سازمان اطلاعات و امنیت کشور
Agency overview
Formed	20 March 1957
Dissolved	12 February 1979
Superseding agency	Prime Ministry Intelligence Office;
Headquarters	Tehran
Employees	5,000 at peak
Agency executives	Teymur Bakhtiar (first); Nasser Moghaddam (last);

SAVAK (Persian: ساواک, abbreviation for سازمان اطلاعات و امنیت کشور Sāzmān-e Ettelā'āt va Amniyat-e Keshvar, lit. '"Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State"') was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar ordered its dissolution during the climax of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

SAVAK had 5,000 agents at its peak. Gholam Reza Afkhami estimates SAVAK staffing at between 4,000 and 6,000. Time magazine's 19 February 1979 publication also states that it had 5,000 members.

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