Anoushirvan Sepahbodi ( was an Iranian foreign minister and diplomat.

Career

In 1907 he joined the Foreign Service. In 1910 he became Vice Consul in

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

. In 1926 he was chief of the protocol. He was deputy head of the Persian mission next the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, until he was appointed second deputy chairman of the Consulate General in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. From 1929 to 1931 he was minister in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and was Permanent Representative of the Iranian Government to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in Geneva. From July 1933, he served three months as Secretary of State at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. From the beginning of 1934 he was ambassador to Rome and was simultaneously accredited to the governments in Vienna, Prague and Budapest. From December 19, 1933 to January 4, 1935, he negotiated a British-Persian agreement on arms trafficking in Iran and the Persian Gulf. From June 1936 to April 1938 he was minister in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In July 1938 Anoushirvan Sepahbodi became minister in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1939, French satirical magazines like

Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...

had presented the qualities of a

Persian cat The Persian cat, also known as the Persian Longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterised by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats might have been imported into Italy from Greater Khorasan, Khoras ...

as that of

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

Pierre Dac André Isaac (15 August 1893 Châlons-sur-Marne, France – 9 February 1975 Paris, France), better known as Pierre Dac, was a French humorist. During World War II, Pierre Dac was one of the speakers of the BBC's ''Radio Londres'' service to occu ...

could not hope for more beautiful publicity, even if he never imagined the scandal that an article of could declencehr. Because the "French satirical newspapers", especially the weekly he runs, made fun of

, diplomatic relations were interrupted. A delegation under the direction of General

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II, as well as a high ranking member of the Vichy France, Vichy regime. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educate ...

had to apologize to

. Anoushirvan Sepahbodi was recalled from Paris and in June 1939 accredited to

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

in Madrid. From 1941 to 1945 he was ambassador in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. From October 29, 1945 to early 1946, he served as Foreign Minister in the governments of Ebrahim Hakimi and Mohsen Sadr. In February 1946, he became Minister of Justice in the Cabinet of Ahmad Qavām. In September 1946 he was sent to the Paris Peace Conference. In August 1947 he was appointed Advisor to the Government Cabinet. From May 1948 he also advised the Cabinet of Ahmad Qavām. In 1949 he replaced Hakim al-Malik from as royal master of ceremonies, who had been appointed Minister of the Interior. In 1950, as part of the reforms that led to the introduction of the Senate, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi appointed him to his ministre plénipotentiaire in Tehran, a position he held until October 1953. From 1954 to 1959 he was ambassador to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. From 1962 to 1966 he was ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. In 1966 he was retired after 60 years of service.Malcolm Yapp, Paul Preston, Michael Patridge, British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1940 through 1945. Near and the Middle-East. Percia and Afghanistan, January 1940–December 1941, 1997
S. 68
https://books.google.com/books?id=YWMOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Minister,+Paris,+July+1938,+and+also+accredited+to+Spain+in+June+1939%22 S. 68]

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sepahbodi, Anoushirvan Ministers of justice of Iran Ambassadors of Iran to Switzerland Ambassadors of Iran to Italy Ambassadors of Iran to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Iran to France Ambassadors of Iran to Spain Ambassadors of Iran to Turkey Ambassadors of Iran to Egypt Ambassadors of Iran to the Holy See Ministers of foreign affairs of Iran 1888 births 1982 deaths