After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, based on the proposal of the Council of Ministers and the approval of the Islamic Revolutionary Council, on May 13, 1979, the Capitulation rights and privileges and their attachments were permanently and definitively abolished.
Before this decision, during the Revolution and on the day of February 7, 1979, the first practical step towards the abolition of this law had been taken by the people of Isfahan. On this day, the people of Isfahan, for the first time, took a practical step in violation of the law passed by the National Consultative Assembly. In this city, one of the American nationals assaulted a driver and therefore the people caught him. Then they held a court and put the American national on trial. Finally, he was released after paying blood money. This action was the first fundamental step towards the eradication of Capitulation.
The term "capitulation" is derived from the Latin word "capitular" meaning an agreement, contract, or treaty. The practice of capitulation dates back to ancient Rome, but specifically, this phenomenon occurred during the period of the Ottoman Caliphate rulers.
Capitulation is essentially the consular jurisdiction by which a sovereign state relinquishes jurisdiction within its borders over the subjects of a foreign state and instead, they are subject to the laws of their respective countries. These rights and privileges granted to foreign nationals in a country are, in fact, colonial privileges because capitulation creates legal immunity for foreign nationals living in a country that has accepted capitulation regulations which protect them from prosecution and punishment for any wrongdoing or violation of the law they committed in that country. These contracts sometimes go further, providing other rights and privileges such as customs and tax exemptions or ownership rights and commercial activities for foreign nationals.
In 1535, a treaty was concluded between Sultan Suleiman I and Francois I, King of France, according to which French merchants and traders in the Ottoman territory are subject to the consular laws of their respective countries.
The excuse and reasons for concluding capitulation contracts between European, Asian and African countries was that their judicial authorities did not consider these countries to be competent enough to handle the claims of their nationals or the claimed that their nationals are only willing to work in these countries if they are protected by the laws of their respecting countries.
In many countries, capitulation has been abolished, including Japan in 1899, Turkey in 1923, Thailand in 1927, Iran in 1928, Egypt in 1937, and China in 1943.
Today, American soldiers present in many countries around the world, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Oman, enjoy judicial immunity and are subject to trial in their own country if they commit a crime in the host country.
For the first time, this contract was concluded after signing the Turkmenchay Treaty between Iran and Russia in 1828. The sixth and seventh chapters of the mentioned Treaty referred to the issue of immunity of Russian nationals in Iranian territory.
Later, other countries such as Spain, France, the United States, England, Germany, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire also took advantage of this situation and imposed consular privileges for their nationals on Iran.
In 1918, the Samsam al-Saltane government proposed a bill to the Iranian parliament, through which the Russians' capitulation rights in Iran were abolished. However, Western powers and Russia were not easily willing to overlook their privileges. As a result of the efforts of Ayatollah Modarres and other members of the parliament, the National Consultative Assembly passed the bill to abolish capitulation in 1927 and announced that all interested parties have one year to clarify their position and conform to the new conditions. On May 11, 1928, in a session held in the National Consultative Assembly with the presence of Prime Minister Mukhbir al-Saltaneh, he announced the abolition of capitulation.
In 1950, during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the US Department of Defense proposed a plan to examine the legal status of American soldiers in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries to clarify the legal and judicial situation of American soldiers serving in other countries.
In 1962, the US embassy attempted to encourage prime minister Ali Amini to pass a law in the parliament granting immunity to American military advisors, but the Amini government did not last long enough to follow up on this issue.
Based on historical documents, during voting on the Capitulation Law, despite the government's efforts, a large number of MPs opposed the bill, and according to parliamentary rules and regulations, it was rejected.
On October 5, 1963, prime minister Assadollah Alam purposed an ambiguous article regarding the conclusion of a new contract on consular jurisdiction to the parliament, but Sharif-Emami, the speaker of the parliament, feared the approval of the bill and refused to pass it. The most significant action of the Mansour government was presenting the bill granting legal immunity to American advisors in Iran to the 21st Parliament and its approval. Considering the subsequent consequences of this bill, it played a decisive role in the fate of the Pahlavi regime. Mansour wanted the passage of this bill through the parliament without attracting attention, but this action was so contrary to Iran's independence that even some members of that nominal parliament opposed it. Right after becoming prime minister, Hassanali Mansour presented the Capitulation Bill as a single article to the National Consultative Assembly and the Senate. The public session of the National Consultative Assembly began at 9 am on October 13, 1964, with the presence of the prime minister and most of the ministers.
According to historical documents, Sadeq Ahmadi, the representative of Sonqor, Halaku Rambod the representative of Tavalesh and Gorganrood, Gholamhossein Fakhr Tabatabaie the representative of Borujerd, and Rahim Zehtabfard the representative of Tabriz, were among the most significant opponents of the approval of the Capitulation Bill in the 21st Parliament. Furthermore, some members of the minority faction, such as Dr. Naser Behboudi the representative of Saveh and Zarrin Dasht, Dr. Hanifeh Ramazani the representative of Bandar Anzali, Mousavi Malek Shah Zafar the representative of Izeh, Mohammad Ali Amuzgar the representative of Bandar Lengeh, Fakhr Tabatabaie the representative of Borujerd, Zehtabfard the representative of Tabriz, Mostafav the representative of Naien, Rambod the representative of Tavalesh and Gorganrood, Dr. Baqaie Yazdi the representative of Taft, Movaqqar the representative of Ahvaz, and Amir Nosratollah Balakhanlou the representative of Hamedan, requested that the bill be sent to the Judiciary Committee of the Parliament, but their request was not accepted.
One of the last MPs who spoke against the Capitulation Bill in the 21st Parliament was Rahim Zehtabfard the representative of Tabriz, who believed the bill had been designed by the officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Tehran and that Hassanali Mansour seeks to gain its approval. His statements led to a reaction from Hassanali Mansour, who described Zehtabfard's views and remarks as manipulating public opinion and being pessimistic.
According to historical documents, during the voting on the Capitulation Bill, despite the government's efforts, a large number of MPs opposed it, and based on parliamentary rules and regulations, the bill was rejected because the number of favorable votes was less than half of the attendants. However, since some of the MPs had refrained from voting on this single article, the speaker of the parliament did not count them among the voters and the passage of the bill was announced. While some US embassy officials were sitting among the visitors of the parliamentary session, after 8 hours of discussion the Capitulation Bill was approved by the 21st Parliament with 74 votes in favor and 61 against. The news of this approval reached Imam Khomeini's friends through one of the revolutionary officers who was working in the parliament.
After finding out the about the accuracy of the news of such news, Imam Khomeini (RA) delivered his famous speech on October 26, 1964, strongly criticizing the parliament's decision. Also, on the same day, he issued a message in which he titled the aforementioned bill the "Document of Iran's Slavery." He severely criticized the United States and Britain, stating,
“The whole world should know that all of the problems of the Iranian nation and other nations are caused by foreigners; by America. The Muslim nations hate foreigners in general and America in particular. The misery of Muslim governments is caused by foreign interference in their affairs. It is the foreigners who plunder our precious subterranean resources. It is Britain that has taken our black gold away for years and is taking it away now. It is the foreigners who have invaded our beloved country, attacked it from three sides, and killed our soldiers. The Muslim countries were seized by Britain and its agents before, and now they are seized by America and its admirers. It is America, which emboldens Israel to render homeless the Muslim Arabs. It is America, which imposes the MPs, either directly or indirectly, on the nation of Iran. It is America who finds Islam and the Holy Quran harmful to its interests and so, tries to eliminate them. It is America that finds the clergymen a hindrance to imperialism and intends to kill them through imprisonment, torture and defamation. It is America who pressurizes the Iranian Parliament and government to ratify and enforce this scandalous enactment that tramples all our Islamic and national pride. It is America who deals with the Muslim nation like barbarians and even worse”.
Finally, on May 13, 1979, after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the mentioned contract was canceled.
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