By Cyrus Kadivar
Dr. Amir Aslan Afshar, who died on February 18 in Nice, France, was one of the most interesting personalities I came to know in the Iranian diaspora. He was also a treasure trove for any budding historian in search of firsthand accounts of a bygone Iran.
Born in Tehran on 21 November, , into a family that descended from the illustrious Afshar clan, Amir Aslan was the eldest son of Amir Masud, a colonel in Reza Khan’s army, and his wife, Amir Banoo. Educated in Tehran, Berlin, and Vienna in the s and s, he gained a doctorate in political science. He was fluent in Persian, German, English, Turkish and French.
Joining the Iranian Foreign Service immediately after World War II, Aslan Afshar spent 30 years representing his country on numerous diplomatic missions and as ambassador, until the late s, when he entered the Imperial Court.
He belonged to a generation that rose to prominence during the Pahlavi era, and that was often unjustly maligned by Western critics and opponents &#; a generation that emphasized duty to country and sovereign above all else. It was these qualities that made Dr. Afshar excel as Chief of Imperial Protocol, a role that he fulfill
Middle East Quarterly
On January 16, , Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who had ruled Iran for nearly thirty-eight years, left the country in the face of a nationwide popular revolution—never to return. Shortly after his departure, it became known that the deposed monarch suffered from advanced cancer, and on July 27, , he passed away in Cairo, at age sixty.
Did the shah’s illness play a role in the advent of the Iranian revolution? A growing body of evidence indicates that it did. For one thing, his frantic drive “to transport a fourteenth century country into the twentieth century in a decade,” widely considered the revolution’s precipitating cause, was likely influenced by his foreboding sense of mortality.[1] For another, the extent of Western governments’ awareness of the shah’s real state of health influenced their attitudes and behavior toward the beleaguered monarch, leading to the West’s effective desertion at the most critical moments in his war for survival.
A Closely Guarded Secret
It is not clear when the shah developed cancer symptoms and when he was first diagnosed. One account traces this diagnosis to or when a biopsied gland in the shah’s neck, noted by
Farewell Iran: A Century of Memories
This is not only a history of Iran but also a whole section of our contemporary history. It begins in when the author was a fifteen-year-old student in Berlin and ends forty-four years later with the Islamic revolution. Because of his privileged position, Amir Aslan Afshar offers us a candid look behind the scenes of the Revolution. His experiences and observations refute the standard narrative of why the Shah left Iran and why and how the Iranian monarchy ended. Throughout his memoirs, he tries to draw the characters of the players in this modern fresco -- both friends and enemies -- most of whom he knew very well. His unwavering loyalty to the Shah, to whom he was a close confidante, does not prevent Afshar from denouncing and condemning the infamous SAVAKs virulent and corrupt behaviour. Amir Aslan Afshar was born in Tehran. He has had a brilliant and illustrious diplomatic and political career. He represented Iran as ambassador to the United States, Germany, and Austria. In he was appointed as Grandmaster of Protocol of the imperial court. He served in that position until the overthrow of the monarchy in He was with the Shah during
One of Iran&#;s leading diplomats has passed away. Dr. Amir Aslan Afshar passed away on February 19, Unfortunately, I never had the honor of meeting him or talking to him. However, I grew up with his texts, interviews and thoughts. His death is a huge loss for Iran.
Dr. Aslan Afshar was born on November 22, He was born in Tehran, but was originally from Maraghe in Iranian Azerbaijan. He thus belonged to what the Western world often refers to as the &#;Iranian minority&#;. He was sent to Germany at a young age. During the first half of the s, he received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Vienna. After returning to Iran, he was employed by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
His first foreign assignment was to be appointed third secretary at the Iranian embassy in The Hague. He was later elected to the Iranian parliament. He then returned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs again, where he served in several senior positions, such as leading the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the late s. He eventually became Iran&#;s ambassador to Austria and between and , he was Iran&#;s ambassador to the United States. He then ser
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