Mohammad Ali Samii

Mohammad Ali Samii passed away on January 9, 2024, in Houston, Texas, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was 91 years old.

Ali was born on November 19, 1932, in Rasht, the province bordering the Caspian Sea in the Northern part of Iran. He was the youngest son of Zahra Mojdehie and Mehdi Ebtehaj Samii whose lineage dates back over 350 years to the time of the Safavid dynasty. 

Ali left Rasht at a young age and was educated in Switzerland and England before completing his post-graduate education in the U.S. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from New York University.  In 1957, while still a graduate student, he married Mina Batmanghelidj, and the following year, the young couple returned to Iran with their first-born.

Over the next two decades, Ali held many prominent positions. He served as Deputy Minister of Information, as Governor General of Kermanshah, and as Governor General of Khuzestan.  Both provinces were, and still are, of prime geopolitical importance. Kermanshah lies in Western Iran, bordering Iraq.  Khuzestan is situated in Southwestern Iran, bordering both Iraq and the Persian Gulf, a major source of the country’s oil reserves.

Of his many accomplishments during his appointments as Governor General, Ali was proudest of two in particular.

In Kermanshah, he was responsible for providing shelter and care for 5,000 to 10,000 Iraqi Kurdish refugees.  Those numbers rapidly increased to over 57,000 refugees.  In very short order, before the potential onset of epidemic illness and the impending cold winter months, and after only a one-month planning phase, Ali coordinated and supervised the building of eight small towns and one camp. Over a distance of 14 million square meters and a construction surface of about 320,000 square meters, 2,800 houses and facilities were built to provide housing, food, healthcare, education, and social services for the refugees, likely saving thousands of lives.  The deputy from the United Nations who came to inspect the towns stated that he had never seen such organization or a project of that magnitude completed in such a short period of time.

Ali and his wife Mina were much loved and respected in Kermanshah.  When Ali’s term as Governor General ended, the people of the city bid them farewell by following their automobile all the way out of town, lining kilometer upon kilometer of roadway.

In Khuzestan, Ali initiated and managed a very complex modernization of the local port, transforming it to world-class standards.  He was hands-on, inspecting the progress of the expansive construction site on a daily basis.  The advancements that Ali instituted led to a much higher efficiency and throughput in the transit and trade of commodities and goods. The undertaking was considered to be a great success.

Ali was a man of the people.  While he was provided with government security, he preferred to drive his own car with his security detail following behind.  He would often stop by small shops to talk to residents about their concerns and problems, to help them in any way possible.

He was a very kind man.  When his secretary developed severe heart problems, he made swift arrangements to have her flown to Houston for a consultation with world-renowned cardiologist Dr. Michael DeBakey.  The ensuing heart operation, which he paid for personally, saved her life. 

Ali loved Iran deeply and wanted to be of service to it and its people. His actions were always guided by what would best serve the interests of the people.  He was a man of courage, conviction and principle, and someone who put others above himself.  He was saddened by his exile, and by having to leave Iran, but his love of his homeland never left him. His last wish was for his cremains to be mixed with the soil from Rasht, and for those remains to be buried next to his father’s grave in Rasht.  

Ali was an extremely loving and devoted family man. He adored his wife Mina. He fell in love with her the very first moment he laid eyes on her, and they were married two weeks later. Their four children and three grandchildren were much beloved and cherished; their lives intertwined to the end of Ali’s days.

Ali was a man with an immense exuberance for life.  He was charismatic and had a ceaseless amount of energy and enthusiasm.  He loved to spend good times with friends, and to travel.  In his youth, he travelled throughout the U.S, including Texas, and, later with family, he drove all over Europe on multiple occasions. His travels also took him to the Far East and other regions of the Middle East.

Ali had a tremendous sense of humor, joking to his last days, making family laugh with his quick mind and gift of repartee.  He loved music: Wagner, Mahler, Mozart and Puccini, in particular; but also classical Persian music, especially when accompanied by poetry.  The Sufi lyric poet Hafez was a special favorite.  He read voraciously, favoring military history and the classics, with authors ranging from Cicero to Churchill.  He was also extremely passionate about science, space, and technological advances.  

Ali is survived by his wife of over 66 years, Mina; their children Soraya (Brian), Micky (Gregg), Karim (Tina), and Salimé; their grandchildren Adam, Lili, and Lara; his sister Simin; and many nieces and nephews.

Ali did not wish to have a memorial service, but he lives on in the hearts and minds of the many whose lives he profoundly touched.

"Love rests on no foundation. It's an endless ocean, with no beginning or end." – Rumi