Mahmudali Chehregani

Mahmudali Chehregani
Personal details
Born (1958-03-05) March 5, 1958 (age 66)
Shabestar, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Mahmudali Chehregani (Azerbaijani: Mahmudəli Babaxan oğlu Çöhrəqanlı, Persian: محمود علی چهرگانی) (also known as Mahmudali Chohraganli) is an Iranian Azerbaijani political activist, born in Shabestar, East Azarbaijan Province, Iran, in 1958. After the expulsion of the South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement) by Piruz Dilenchi, he founded the Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement (SANAM or GAMOH), a political group that claims to represent the interests of Iran's estimated 12 to 18.5 million Azerbaijani minority (approximately 16-25 percent of Iran's all population).[1] Chehregani was a professor of linguistics at Tabriz University.[2]

Chehregani was supported by the United States during the Bush administration, according to William O. Beeman.[3]

  1. ^ "UNPO: Southern Azerbaijan: SANAM General Assembly". unpo.org. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  2. ^ Human Rights Watch. Iran. Religious And Ethnic Minorities: Discrimination in Law And Practice. 1997 report.
  3. ^ William O. Beeman, "The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs",University of Chicago Press, 2008. pg 135: "The Bush administration also flitered with supporting the Mujaheddin-Khalq (MEK) in their efforts to overthrow the Tehran government, supporting Mahmud Ali Chehregani, leader of an Azerbaijani separatist movement calling for a federated Iran".