On February 21, 1921, a group of Anglophile political activists led by Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee, the rising young journalist, succeeded in plotting a coup that toppled the Iranian Government, while vowing to preserve the Qajar monarchy. The military strongman commanding the Persian Cossack Brigade that descended on Tehran was to be Reza Khan. Reza Khan had successfully consolidated his hold over this cavalry unit when its Tsarist commanding officers departed Iran due to the revolutionary upheaval and the ensuing Civil War that engulfed their country. While the Coup lasted approximately 100 days, it proved to be the stepping stone allowing Reza Khan to consolidate his power and, in due course, to ascend to the throne several years later. Although, according to the British archives, Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee offered Teymourtash a cabinet portfolio, Teymourtash refused to join the former's government. In the aftermath of the coup a number of Iranian political notables, including Teymourtash, were imprisoned to forestall opposition. Teymourtash was not initially singled out as one of the members of Parliament to be incarcerated. The decision to have him arrested followed an exchange he had with one of the British diplomats in Tehran at an official function whereby he publicly accused the British Government of having masterminded the putsch led by Sayyad Zia and Reza Khan. After being briefly held in prison, Teymourtash was exiled to Qom where he was held until the coup collapsed several months later.