Amir Khosrow Afshar (1919–1999; fa, امیرخسرو افشار قاسملو) was an Iranian diplomat, who served as the minister of foreign affairs of Iran during the Shah era from 1978 to 1979.

Biography

Born in 1919 in Tehran, Afshar was a career diplomat. At the beginning of the 1950s he was the political joint secretary at the foreign ministry. He later assumed the posts of the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputy foreign minister. In 1960, he was the acting minister of foreign affairs. While serving as the deputy to

Ardeshir Zahedi Ardeshir Zahedi, GCVO ( fa, اردشیر زاهدی; 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 Un ...

, Iranian foreign minister, Afshar was named as the chief Iranian negotiator on the Bahrain question in 1968. Next, he was appointed ambassador of Iran to the Court of St James's on 6 November 1969, succeeding

Abbas Aram Abbas Aram (1906–1985) was an Iranian diplomat and served as foreign minister for two terms between 1959 and 1960 and between 1962 and 1966. In addition, he was the ambassador of Iran to various countries, including Iraq, the United Kingdo ...

in the post. He held this position until December 1974 when he was replaced by Muhammad Reza Amir Teymour in the post. Afshar also served as the ambassador of Iran to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He was appointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by Jafar Sharif Emami on 27 August 1978, replacing Abbas Ali Khalatbari in the post. He retained the post when a military government led by

Gholam Reza Azhari Arteshbod Gholam Reza Azhari ( fa, غلامرضا ازهاری; 18 February 1912 – 5 November 2001) was a military leader and Prime Minister of Iran. Early life and education Azhari was born in Shiraz in 1912 (or in 1917). He was a graduate ...

formed on 6 November 1978. His term ended in 1979, and Ahmad Mirfendereski replaced him in the post. In the 1960s Afshar was among the Iranian statesmen who favoured Iran's close relations with the U.S. and other Western countries in order to secure the survival of the Pahlavi dynasty. He left Iran before the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

and died in 1999.

Honors

Afshar was the recipient of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Afshar, Amir Khosrow 20th-century diplomats 20th-century Iranian politicians 1919 births 1999 deaths Ambassadors of Iran to Germany Ambassadors of Iran to France Ambassadors of Iran to the United Kingdom Foreign ministers of Iran Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Politicians from Tehran