Amir Khosrow Afshar (1919–1999; ) was an Iranian diplomat who served as the minister of foreign affairs of Iran during the Pahlavi 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 (; 16 October 1928 – 18 November 2021) was a prominent 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 United Kingdom during ...

, 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 The Court of St James's serves as the official royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The court formally receives all ambassadors accredited to the United Kingdom. Likewise, ambassadors representing the United Kingdom are formally ...

on 6 November 1969, succeeding Abbas Aram in the post. He held this position until December 1974 when he was replaced by Mohammad Reza Amir Teymour in the post. Afshar also served as the ambassador of Iran to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was appointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by

Jafar Sharif-Emami Jafar Sharif-Imami (; 17 June 1912 – 16 June 1998) was an Iranian politician who was prime minister from 1960 to 1961 and again in 1978. He was a cabinet minister, president of the Iranian Senate, president of the Pahlavi Foundation and the ...

on 27 August 1978, replacing Abbas Ali Khalatbari in the post. He retained the post when a

military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...

led by Gholam Reza Azhari was formed on 6 November 1978. His term ended in January 1979, and

Ahmad Mirfendereski Ahmad Mirfendereski (; 9 May 1918 – 2 May 2004) was an Iranian diplomat, politician and the last minister of foreign affairs of the Shah era in Iran. Career Mirfendereski began his career at the ministry of foreign affairs and held many posts ...

replaced him in the post. In the 1960s Afshar was among the Iranian statesmen who favored Iran's close relations with the U.S. and other Western countries in order to secure the survival of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

. He left Iran before the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

in 1979 and died in 1999.

Honors

Afshar was the recipient of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

and a Grand Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

.Nationaal Archief, Inventory 2.02.32, File 376, Registry number 1256

References

External links

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