Amīr Aṣlān Afshār ( fa, امیراصلان افشار; 22 November 1919 – 18 February 2021) was an Iranian politician and diplomat.

Early life

He was a descendant of Afshar Qasemlu who ruled Kerman, during the reign of Nader Shah of the

Afsharid dynasty The Afsharid dynasty ( fa, افشاریان) was an Iranian dynasty founded by Nader Shah () of the Qirqlu clan of the Turkoman Afshar tribe Afshar ( az, Əfşar افشار; tr, Avşar, ''Afşar''; tk, Owşar; fa, اَفشار, Āfshār) ...

. His father, Colonel Amir Masoud Afshar Qasemlu, served during

Reza Shah , , spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort) Turan Amirsoleimani Esmat Dowlatshahi , issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess Shams Mohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza P ...

's reign. He graduated from the Hindenburg-Oberrealschule

Berlin-Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The vi ...

in 1939, and received his doctorate in political science from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

in 1942.

Career

Afshār joined the Foreign Service in 1948. From 1950 to 1954, he was an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

at the Iranian embassy in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. From 1956 to 1960, he was a member of the National Consultative Assembly. In addition to his work as a member of parliament, he was a delegate to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Economic Committee from 1957 to 1961. He later served as the Ambassador of Iran to Austria from 1967 to 1969, then as the Ambassador of Iran to the United States from 1969 to 1972, and the Ambassador of Iran to West Germany from 1973 to 1977. On January 16, 1979, during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

, Afshar left Iran on the same plane as Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Death

On 18 February 2021, Afshār died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, at his home in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, aged 101.

Awards

* 1965:

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

References

External links

* Video
Nixon Meets Iranian Ambassador
aired on October 17, 1969, ABC News and AP News 1919 births 2021 deaths Politicians from Tehran University of Vienna alumni Ambassadors of Iran to Austria Ambassadors of Iran to the United States Ambassadors of Iran to Germany Iranian centenarians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France Iranian expatriates in France Men centenarians {{Iran-politician-stub