Ardeshir Zahedi

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Then Foreign Minister, Ardeshir Zahedi (r) hosting Richard Nixon in Tehran

Ardeshir Zahedi (Persian: اردشیر زاهدی Ardeshīr Zāhedī) (born October 16, 1928) was an important Iranian diplomat during the 1960s and 1970s, serving as the country's foreign minister and its ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Born in Tehran, he is the son of General Fazlollah Zahedi, who served as Prime Minister after the fall of Mohammed Mossadegh. The younger Zahedi received a degree in Agriculture from Utah State University in 1950 [1]. Seven years later, he married the daughter of the Shah of Iran, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1964. Zahedi served as ambassador to the United States from 1959 to 1962 and to the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1966. Under Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1966 to 1973.

Zahedi then became ambassador to the United States from 1973 until the Iranian Revolution climaxed in January of 1979. During his second stint in Washington, he won a reputation for extravagance by sending tins of Iranian caviar instead of thank-you cards to ambassadors who had invited him to parties. He allegedly purchased a large number of Vacheron Constantin watches as presents for government supporters. In the 1970s, Zahedi became known as a companion of the American movie star Elizabeth Taylor, with the two being dubbed "the hottest couple" in Washington D.C., according to the writer Barbara Howar. He later introduced Taylor to Senator John Warner of Virginia, and they eventually married.

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 Court Minister) and SAVAK directors Hassan Pakravan and Nematollah Nassiri. When the Shah fled Iran in 1979, Zahedi went into exile with him and was present at the Shah's funeral, in Cairo in 1980.

Zahedi is retired and living in Switzerland. He has 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, Chungang University of Seoul, and the College of Political and Social Science of Lima in Peru.[2] In December 1976, in a ceremony held in Washington D.C., Mr. Zahedi was awarded the KAPPA Sigma Fraternity ‘Man of the Year’ Award.[3] In 2002, he was inducted into to Alumni Hall of Honor of the Utah State University College of Agriculture.[4] He has received many awards and honors from nations around the globe for his humanitarian service and record in international affairs.

In an interview in May 2006, Ardeshir Zahedi voiced his support for Iran's Nuclear Program stating it as an "inalienable right of Iran", under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). [5] Ambassador Zahedi told Voice of America that U.S. approved start of Iran's $50 billion nuclear program in the 1970's. Two documents in particular, dated April 22, 1975 and April 20, 1976, show that the United States and Iran held negotiations on nuclear program and the United States was willing to help Iran by setting up uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing facilities. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

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'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the past three centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). ISBN 9-649340-661 (Vol. 1), ISBN 9-649340-653 (Vol. 2).
Fereydoun Hoveyda, The Fall of the Shah, translated by Roger Liddell (Wyndham Books, New York, 1980). ISBN 0-671610-031, ISBN 978-0671610036.