Zahedi, ‘playboy' Iran envoy to US under shah, dies at 93

Dubai: Ardeshir Zahedi, Iran’s flamboyant ambassador to the US during the rule of the shah who charmed both Hollywood stars and politicians with his lavish parties until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, died on Thursday.

Dubai: Ardeshir Zahedi, Iran’s flamboyant ambassador to the US during the rule of the shah who charmed both Hollywood stars and politicians with his lavish parties until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, died on Thursday. He was 93. Whether seen with Henry Kissinger or entertaining Barbra Streisand, Zahedi cut such a memorable presence across Washington’s social scene that one newspaper report referred to him as both the “playboy of the Western world” and the capital’s “most-sought-after bachelor”. He was linked romantically to Elizabeth Taylor, the siren of the age.