Ardeshir Zahedi
| Ardeshir Zahedi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 12 January 1966 – 12 September 1971 |
|
| Monarch | Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi |
| Prime Minister | Amir-Abbas Hoveida |
| Preceded by | Abbas Aram |
| Succeeded by | Abbas Ali Khalatbari |
| Ambassador of Iran to the United States | |
|
In office 7 March 1973 – 11 February 1979 |
|
| Preceded by | Amir-Aslan Afshar |
| Succeeded by | Mehdi Haeri Yazdi |
|
In office 16 March 1960 – 3 March 1962 |
|
| Preceded by | Ali Gholi Ardalan |
| Succeeded by | Hossein Ghods-Nakhai |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 October 1928 Tehran, Iran |
| Political party | Rastakhiz Party |
| Spouse(s) | Shahnaz Pahlavi (m. 1957–d. 1964) |
| Relations | Fazlollah Zahedi (Father) Khadija tol-Moluk (Mother) |
| Children | Zahra Mahnaz Zahedi |
| Alma mater | Utah State University |
| Religion | Islam |
Ardeshir Zahedi (Persian: اردشیر زاهدی), GCVO, (born 16 October 1928) is a former 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 on 16 October 1928, he is the son of General Fazlollah Zahedi, who served as prime minister after the fall of Mohammed Mossadegh. Zahedi received a degree in agriculture from Utah State University in 1950, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma. 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 1960 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 1971.
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. In the mid-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. 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 fled 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.
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