Ahmad Mirfendereski (9 May 1918–2 May 2004) was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

, politician and the last

minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

of the Shah era in Iran.

Career

Mirfendereski began his career at the ministry of foreign affairs and held many posts there. He served as the ambassador of Iran to

the Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in the sixties. Upon returning to Tehran, he was appointed as deputy minister of foreign affairs in 1970. He served in the post until October 1973 when he was dismissed because he allowed Soviet civil airplanes to fly spare parts to Iraq to be employed in the war with Israel without consent of the Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 Octob ...

. Mirfendereski was appointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by

Shahpour Bakhtiar Shapour Bakhtiar ( fa, شاپور بختیار, ; 26 June 19146 August 1991) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the words of historian Abbas Milani: "more than once in ...

in January 1979, replacing

Abbas Ali Khalatbari Abbas Ali Khalatbari ( fa, عباسعلی خلعتبری, Abbās-'Alī Khal’atbarī; 1912 – 11 April 1979), also known as Abbas Ali Khal'atbari, was an Iranian diplomat, who served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1971 to 1978. He was ...

in the post. His term lasted very short, just 37 days, and ended in February 1979 when an Islamic revolution took place in the country. Just before the return of

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

to Iran Mirfendereski declared that Iran ended its membership from

CENTO The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tur ...

which is considered to be an initiative of the Bakhtiar cabinet to establish positive relations with both Khomeini's supporters and the leftist groups.

Karim Sanjabi Karim Sanjabi ( fa, کریم سنجابی; 11 September 1905 – 4 July 1995) was an Iranian politician of National Front. Early life He was born in Kermanshah in September 1905 to the chief of the Kurdish Sanjâbi tribe. He studied law and ...

succeeded Mirfendereski as foreign minister.

Later years

After leaving office, Mirfendereski was arrested and put at Qasr prison in Tehran where other senior officials were also detained. Then he was freed, and he left Iran and settled in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. In the exile he joined the National Resistance Movement headed by Bakhtiar. In 1984, Mirfendereski declared in Paris that the Shah's cancer had been diagnosed in 1974, six years before his death in Egypt on 27 July 1980 and that it had been kept secret until the revolution.

Personal life and death

Mirfendereski was married and had three children, two daughters and a son. He died in Paris at the age of 85 on 2 May 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirfendereski, Ahmad 20th-century diplomats 20th-century Iranian politicians 21st-century Iranian people 1918 births 2004 deaths Ambassadors of Iran to the Soviet Union Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in France Foreign ministers of Iran Politicians from Tehran National Resistance Movement of Iran politicians