Ardeshir Zahedi

Ardeshir Zahedi, GCVO ( 16 October 1928 – 18 November 2021) was an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as the country's foreign minister from 1966 to 1971, and its ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s.

Born in Tehran on 16 October 1928, he was the son of General Fazlollah Zahedi, who served as prime minister after participating in the CIA-led coup which led to the fall of Mohammed Mossadegh, and wife Khadijeh Pirnia.

Zahedi received a degree in agriculture from Utah State University in 1950, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma.

Zahedi served as ambassador to the United States from 1960 to 1962 and to the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1966.

Seven years later, he married the eldest daughter of the Shah of Iran and granddaughter of the King of Egypt, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1964.

He served as minister of foreign affairs from 1966 to 1971 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida.

In the mid-1970s, Zahedi became known as a companion of the American actress Elizabeth Taylor.

He told Voice of America that the U.S. approved the start of Iran's $50 billion nuclear program in the 1970s.

Zahedi again became ambassador to the United States from 1973 until the Iranian Revolution climaxed in January 1979.

During his second stint in Washington, he won a reputation for extravagance.

Two documents in particular, dated 22 April 1975 and 20 April 1976, show that the United States and Iran held negotiations on a nuclear program and the U.S. was willing to help Iran by setting up uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing facilities.

In December 1976, in a ceremony held in Washington D.C., Zahedi was awarded the Kappa Sigma Fraternity 'Man of the Year' Award.

During the 1977 Hanafi Siege of a federal building in Washington, Zahedi and two other ambassadors from Muslim nations were able to talk the hostage-takers into surrendering and releasing 149 hostages.

Over the course of 1978, it was reported in some circles that Zahedi urged the Shah to appease the rioters by making scapegoats of several high-ranking officials, including Amir Abbas Hoveida (then Prime Minister) and SAVAK director Nematollah Nassiri.

When the Shah left Iran in 1979, Zahedi was still serving as ambassador in Washington, but resigned as soon as Khomeini came to power.

He started fervent attempts at securing political asylum for the ailing Shah and the Imperial family in Panama, Mexico, Morocco and finally Egypt.

He was present at the Shah's death bed and funeral in Cairo in 1980.

Zahedi lived in retirement in Montreux, Switzerland.

He received honorary doctoral degrees of law and humanities from Utah State University, East Texas State University, Kent State University, St. Louis University, University of Texas, Montana State University, Washington College, Westminster College, Harvard University, Chung-Ang University of Seoul, and the College of Political and Social Science of Lima in Peru.

In 2002, he was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Honor of the Utah State University College of Agriculture.

He received many awards and honors from nations around the globe for his humanitarian service and record in international affairs.

He died at his residence in Montreux, Switzerland, on 18 November 2021, aged 93.

Zahedi's papers are held in the collection of the Hoover Institution.

In an interview in May 2006, Zahedi voiced his support for Iran's Nuclear Program stating it as an "inalienable right of Iran", under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).