Tahir Yahya

Tahir Yahya (Arabic: طاهر يحيى;‎ 1916–1986) was Prime Minister of Iraq twice, from 1963 to 1965 and a short term in 1967 to 1968. He was educated at the Baghdad Military College and the Staff College. Born in Tikrit 1916, he was the 4th child to Mulla Yahya el-ogaily, a prominent tobacco merchant between North and Central Iraq. At the age of sixteen, he joined the Baghdad Teachers College, then became a teacher in Baghdad for one year after graduation. He then pursued further education in military sciences. He was a cavalry officer and played polo for the Iraqi army. He led the Iraqi armored company where he was wounded in the battle at the Kfar Masaryk, earning two medals bestowed by Crown Prince Abd al-Ilāh.

Tahir Yahya
طاهر يحيى
Yahya in 1963
Prime Minister of Iraq
In office 10 July 1967 – 17 July 1968
President	Abdul Rahman Arif
Preceded by	Abdul Rahman Arif
Succeeded by	Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif
In office 20 November 1963 – 6 September 1965
President	Abdul Salam Arif
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Arif Abd ar-Razzaq
Personal details
Born	1916 Tikrit, Ottoman Empire
Died	1986 (aged 69–70) Mansour district, Baghdad, Ba'athist Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi
Political party	Arab Socialist Union
Spouse	Ameena Rasheed
Children	7
Residence	Baghdad
Profession	Military officer Teacher
Military service
Allegiance	Iraq
Branch/service	Iraqi Army
Years of service	1946–1968
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	First Arab-Israeli War 14 July Revolution Six Day War

In November 1963 he was appointed as prime minister by President Abdul Salam Arif.^[1]

At the end of his term, Yahya warned president Arif of the upcoming Ba'ath coup d'état and their plans to overthrow his government, but Arif did not take any action.^{[2][failed verification]} This led to Yahya submitting his resignation on 8 July 1968, one week before the coup d'état took place. That same morning Yahya was arrested and Arif was deported to London.

Yahya spent three years in prison, torture, and health neglect. In 1971 he was released, only to be put under house arrest until dying in his house in Mansur, Baghdad, in 1986.

References

1. Chapin Metz, Helen, ed. (1988). "Coups, Coup Attempts, and Foreign Policy". Iraq: A Country Study. GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
2. "Ba'athists now put Iraq first". the Guardian. 1968-07-18. Retrieved 2022-12-01.

External links

• Media related to Tahir Yahya at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr	Prime Minister of Iraq 1963-1965	Succeeded by Arif Abd ar-Razzaq
Preceded by Abdul Rahman Arif	Prime Minister of Iraq 1967-1968	Succeeded by Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif