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Abbas Ali Khalatbari
Abbas Ali Khalatbari
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 13 September 1971 – 27 August 1978
Monarch	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Prime Minister	Amir Abbas Hoveyda; Jamshid Amouzegar;
Preceded by	Ardeshir Zahedi
Succeeded by	Amir Khosrow Afshar
General Secretary of CENTO
	In office; June 1962 – January 1968
Preceded by	Osman Ali Baig
Succeeded by	Turgut Menemencioglu
Personal details
Born	1912; Tehran, Qajar Iran
Died	11 April 1979 (aged 66–67); Tehran, Iran
Cause of death	Execution
Political party	Rastakhiz Party (1975–1978)
Children	4
Alma mater	Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris

Abbas Ali Khalatbari (Persian: عباسعلی خلعتبری, romanized: Abbās-'Alī Khal’atbarī; 1912 – 11 April 1979), also known as Abbas Ali Khal'atbari, was an Iranian diplomat, who served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1971 to 1978. He was among the significant diplomats who shaped the foreign relations of Iran during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.^[1] He is one of the Shah era politicians who were executed following the Iranian Revolution.

Early years and education

Khalatbari was born in 1912.^[2] He was a member of a well-established family.^[1]^[3]

Khalatbari pursued his education in Paris where he received a degree in political science from the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris in 1936, and a PhD degree in law in 1938.^[4]

Career

Khalatbari was a career diplomat.^[5] He began his career in the finance ministry in 1940 and then joined the foreign ministry in 1942.^[4] He briefly served as Iran's ambassador to Poland in 1961.^[4]

Khalatbari was appointed secretary general of CENTO in January 1962, replacing Mirza Osman Ali Baig in the post.^[6] Khalatbari was in office until January 1968 when Turgut Menemencioglu succeeded him in the post.^[7] From 1968 to 1970 he served as the deputy minister of foreign affairs.^[8]

Khalatbari was appointed foreign minister to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda on 13 September 1971,^[9] replacing Ardeshir Zahedi in the post.^[2] Khalatbari paid an official visit to Israel in 1977 as a guest of his Israeli counterpart Yigal Allon.^[10] Khalatbari was a member of the Commission on Musa Sadr established in 1977 to make a decision about the fate of Musa Al Sadr, a Lebanon-based influential Shia figure.^[11] The commission concluded that Al Sadr should be an agent for Iran.^[11]

Khalatbari was also appointed minister of foreign affairs to the cabinet formed by Jamshid Amouzegar on 7 August 1977.^[12] Khalatbari served in the post until 27 August 1978^[13] when Amir Khosrow Afshar was named as the minister of foreign affairs. Although being loyal to the Shah, Khalatbari learned his removal from the early morning radio news.^[14]

Later years and death

Following the Iranian Revolution in February 1979 Khalatbari was arrested and sentenced to death on the charges of corruption on earth; membership of the former regime, being a minister of the former government, being a SAVAK agent, being member of a government delegation acting against the interests of the nation; being employed by the CIA; treason, acting against the interest of the people, acting against the security of the nation".^[15] He was also charged with allowing the SAVAK agents to be employed as diplomats in different embassies of the Imperial Iran.^[16] He reportedly said that he had to do so.^[16]

Khalatbari and ten other officials of the Shah, including Mansour Rouhani, were executed by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran on 11 April 1979.^[17]^[18] Shortly before his execution, a written statement of Khalatbari's reports in the court was issued, claiming that the ousted Shah had "personally" killed many people.^[17]

Personal life

Khalatbari was married to the sister of Safi Asfia, who headed the Plan Organisation of Iran, and was in charge of Iran's early nuclear ambitions. He had four children.^[19]