0f Cats, Dogs and other Beasties in Persian Diplomacy

The Cat was the real "Culprit."
Statuette given to my father by the Foreign Minister of France
following the breakup of diplomatic relations because of a cat.
Photo sent from Tehran by my late and beloved sister Parvine

During the summer of 1948, on August 1, to be precise, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Iran visited Paris. He was young, popular, quite handsome and single. He had just divorced beautiful Princess Fawzia, the sister of King Farouk of Egypt who had failed to bear him an heir. Anyway, that was the official reason given for the separation. I was then a student at Janson de Sailly a very harsh and stern Lycée of Paris. My father had been Ambassador to France since it's liberation from the Germans but had been recalled home. One of the reasons advanced for his premature departure was that he had welcomed exiled Ghavam-Saltaneh a former Prime Minister in whose cabinet he had been the Foreign Minister. The latter had become a bit too popular and nursed the notion that a king should reign rather than rule. See Hoveyda's World Warr II Diaries on Ghavam and my father.

It is interesting to note that during the Summer of 1945, the Americans who were still occupying part of Iran, wanted to sell for tens of millions of dollars their military surplus: tents, military wears, canned food as well as an array of totally needless junk. A "garage sale" as they say in America. The cabinet was almost entirely opposed to this forced purchase including my father Anoshiravan Khan Sepahbody, then minister of foreign affairs. Someone informed the American Embassy. It was on a Friday, the Persian weekly holiday. The US ambassador demanded to see my father immediately. My father was in Shemiran at the German Embassy summer resort which had been taken over by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since this was not an urgent problem and that in addition the US ambassador had been arrogant, my father told him to come the next day, a Saturday, to the Ministry. This matter of fact reply made the American ambassador furious and he complained to the Shah. The Ghavam cabinet fell and a new one was formed with a different Minister of Foreign Affairs. The military surplus was finally bought by some contractors. The American ambassador was recalled home by Washington for lack of tact. Tit for tat.

With the Russians refusing to leave Iran, and with the Azerbaijan affair in full crisis, master statesman Ghavam Saltaneh was asked once again to become Prime Minister and form a new Government. Ghavam wanted my father as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the King and others suggested that because of the Americans it would be better to nominate someone else to this position. Thus, my father became Minister of Justice. While in this position, he refused to sign the death sentence of an individual. My father was against the death penalty and resigned from his position rather than sign. He was lauded by many in Iran for this action. He became a Minister without potfolio and in August 1946, was nominated Head of the Iranian Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. While there, he became Ambassador of Iran to France, a position which he had once held before the World War II. I was left alone in Paris and now it was Soheily, an ex-Prime Minister who had become the new Ambassador.

At that time, the chief of protocol at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a good friend of my father. They had known each other prior to World War II when may father was the Persian envoy to Paris. Probably as a gesture of esprit de corps or maybe diplomatic camaraderie, the head of protocol had asked me to go to Le Bourget airport in a French official car provided for the occasion. You must see the Shah, he had urged. Neither Orly airport nor Charles de Gaulle existed at the time. Le Bourget was the very same airfield where famed Charles Lindberg landed the "Spirit of St. Louis" on the first trans-Atlantic flight. It was then a rather simple airport where cows grazed in the distance. France was then in the midst of a vicious crisis and few hign officials were available. Fortunately the Shah's visit to France was a of a rather private nature. Present at the airport were of course Ambassador Soheily and a few members of our embassy which I must confess, was very small at the time. Among them was Amini our military attaché. He was a brother of Ali Amini who later on became Prime Minister of Iran and introduced a measure of economic and social reforms to our country. Amazingly enough, I still have the 8mm black and white movie I took of the event. Most of the gentlemen seen in that film have now departed for the great beyond, a reality which augurs rather miserably for the very few remaining from that period and who are still kicking around.

Years passed by, and in 1970 I was nominated economic counsellor to the Iranian Embassy in Paris, replacing Ardeshir Lotfalian a writer and poet at heart whose mission had ended. For me, Paris had always been a love story and up to that time such a seductive position had always escaped me. While I was there, the Shah together with Empress Farah came on a state visit. It was a glorious and resplendent affair. On this memorable occasion a sumptuous gala in honor of the sovereign was given by French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing at the legendary Versailles Palace. During the lavish dinner I was sitting next to a ranking member of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he recalled that first visit of the Shah back in 1948.

I am having an entertaining conversation with a French
diplomat at a Versailles Palace dinner in Honor of the Shah.

"Yes indeed," remarked the French diplomat, "we had a nasty crisis in 1948. It was a period of odious social and economic turmoil for France. I was quite young then and partly in charge of the Shah's stay. Our beleaguered Minister of Foreign Affairs had to pay attention to more pressing chores. Together with the Asia Department, the French Protocol attempted the best it could to organize the sojourn of the Sovereign, trying to bear in mind his wishes. His 1948 trip to France was nothing to compare with the munificence of the welcome given to your Sovereign by Charles de Gaulle and now by Giscard d'Estaing! But it was nevertheless très sympathique." The French official went on and said: "Chavonin, our military attaché in Teheran, helped us a lot. First of all, we added rice to each menu and made the Shah and his entourage happy! Then we sent him off to the Military Academy of Saumur to enjoy our riders of the Cadres Noirs. He also played tennis quite well with our national champion!"

His arrival was followed by a simple luncheon given at the Hôtel Matignon, the residence of the French Prime Minister; unfortunately our interest at the time was not in your young sovereign but in French politics and the darn communists meddling in everything and trying to topple the government. I must confess, the Shah at least outwardly, had the high civility not to notice this lack of attention, although I presume that he was rather surprised by our shortcomings. Perhaps our illustrious host failed to carry with him the usual unforgettable memories of his stay, as we say in the diplomatic language. Anyway if negligence there was in 1948, we have done much better since, look at the reception tonight, never anything so exalted, so majestic occurred in this château since Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette occupied it. "I thought to myself," I hope the Shah will manage much better. Sadly, by the end 1978 - he didn't... and took with him a multitude of Iranians down the drain and into dark abysses. Today, and because of that majestic failure, I live in distant Arizona, but Iran has remained my cherished spiritual home, I deeply aspire that it will become my practical one again.

Giscard d'Estaing entertains the Shah and Empress Farah Pahlavi at the fabulous Versailles
Palace. Then, Prime Minister Chirac and now the present President of France is sitting left to
the Empress. The relations between Iran and France were at their summit.

Continued on Page 2