The Diplomatic Archives of Ardeshir Zahedi

Diplomatic archives are of valuable importance for historians, but as any source, it should be considered with critical attention.

Shah´s long standing ally and friend, Ardeshir Zahedi - that he described as ´my friend, my father-in-law and beloved King´ - is living since the fall of the regime in his father´s Villa des Roses in Switzerland, somewhere near Montreux and Chillon. A US and UK ambassador to Iran in the 1960s and the minister of Foreign Affairs, he belongs to a family with a steady presence in the Iranian history. His father, General Zahedi, was a short-time replacement of Mossadeq, but has a very tormented political relationship with the Pahlavis and died far away from the country he was exiled from. His mother belongs to the family of Hossein Pirnia (Mo´tamen al Molk) active at the beginning of the 20th century in the political modernisation of Iran. His sister, Homa, represented Hamadan in the Parliament.

Zahedi - his name means ´people of piety´ - graduated agricultural studies at the Utah University but he got mentions for his diplomatic service and a relatively juicy source of gossips for the various court intrigues - that seem to almost got him killed by a bomb after he married Princess Shahnaz, the only child of the Shah and the Egyptian Princess Fawzia Fuad. Zahedi and his wife introduced Farah Dibah to the Shah. Their own marriage was short lived though and Shahnaz, who also lives in Switzerland remarried later Khosrow Jahanbani, son of a top general member of the Qajar dinasty and a St. Petersburg-born Russian aristocrat. 

The handwritten notes by Zahedi published in the volume Window into Modern Iran may not be always all informative relevant but are just a small part of a wider collection that was donated to the Hoover Institution Library and Archives. There are handwritten notes translated from the original Persian, as well as a couple of English telegrams, ´thank-you´ letters but also accounts of various meetings on local issues, such as King Faisal or the King of Jordan. The discussion with King Faisal, for instance, focuses on the dangers of Saddam Baath party for the regional balance, as well as its threats for the traditional Shi´a places of worships in Iraq. It is a mindset of someone who is not religious, part of a government that encouraged secularism, but acknowledging the religious significance of historical connections.

Zahedi remained a patriot of Iran, a patriotism that he understood in his own way. Loyal to his King - the highly respectful ways in which he addresses the Shah in the correspondence is an example of protocolar communication - and one of the few to not leave him as he was forced into Exile - he even made tremendous efforts to secure entry for him, not always successful (for instance, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan refused it) - he also never gave up his country. He remained a proud Iranian and in his frequent public appearances he is never using radical judgements against his people. Ardeshir Zahedi is decent presence in a radicalized public space.