Amir Khosrow Afshar | |
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Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 27 August 1978 – 5 January 1979 | |
Monarch | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Abbas Ali Khalatbari |
Succeeded by | Ahmad Mirfendereski |
Personal details | |
Born | 1919 Tehran, Qajar Iran |
Died | 1999 (aged 79–80) |
Amir Khosrow Afshar (1919–1999; Persian: 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.
Born in 1919 in Tehran, [1] Afshar was a career diplomat. At the beginning of the 1950s he was the political joint secretary at the foreign ministry. [2] [3] He later assumed the posts of the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputy foreign minister. [4] [5] In 1960, he was the acting minister of foreign affairs. [6]
While serving as the deputy to Ardeshir Zahedi, Iranian foreign minister, Afshar was named as the chief Iranian negotiator on the Bahrain question in 1968. [7] [8] Next, he was appointed ambassador of Iran to the Court of St James's on 6 November 1969, succeeding Abbas Aram in the post. [9] [10] He held this position until December 1974 when he was replaced by Muhammad Reza Amir Teymour in the post. [11] [12]
Afshar also served as the ambassador of Iran to West Germany and to France. [6] He was appointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by Jafar Sharif-Emami on 27 August 1978, replacing Abbas Ali Khalatbari in the post. [13] [14] He retained the post when a military government led by Gholam Reza Azhari was formed on 6 November 1978. [13] [15] His term ended in January 1979, and Ahmad Mirfendereski replaced him in the post. [1] [14]
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. [3] He left Iran before the revolution in 1979 and died in 1999. [1]
Afshar was the recipient of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. [12]