Page:Documents from the Den of Espionage.djvu/109

 DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Foreign Service of the United Sates of America

CLASSIFICATION

CONFIDENTIAL

POST

TEHRAN

DATE

July 3, 1968

REPORTING OFFICER

Larry W. Semankis

NAME

Hedayotollah MATIN-DAFTARI

NATIONALITY

Iranian

PRESENT POSITION

Lawyer

DATA AND REMARKS

Hedayatollah Matin-Daftari, who was born in 1933, is the son of Senator Ahmed Matin-Daftari (international lawyer and former Prime Minister) and the grandson of former Prime Minister Dr. Mohamed Mosadeq.

After schooling in Tehran he went to the U.K. where he studied at Cambridge University and in 1956 received a B.A. degree in Economics and Law.

Upon his return to Iran he was employed by the Ministry of Education and joined the faculty of Tehran University. In 1956 he became Director of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Justice. In 1960 the American Friends of the Middle East gave him a Congressional Fellowship which provided for a nine month stay in Washington, D.C. working on Capitol Hill whee he was able to observe the activities of Congress. On his return he became a practicing lawyer specializing in nationality cases.

Matin-Daftari was close to his grandfather and has long been associated with the National Front movement in Iran. In 1962 he served as a member of the National Front publications committee. During the years before Mosadeq's death in 1967 he served as a channel of contact between the village exiled former Prime Minister and National Front members. He is in close touch with those who are National Front minded, particularly among university students and other young elements. Matin-Daftari is well acquainted with the US and admires its principles; but, like many American-connected Iranians he often feels constrained to adopt a critical attitude when in the presence of other Iranians.

Martin-Daftari is about 5'6" tall, wears glasses, has dark brown hair and a moustache. He smokes cigarettes, drinks moderately and is an avid reader. On February 11, 1959 he was married to the former Marian Veseh-Muri (an attractive and lively conversationalist schooled in the U.K. who shares her husband's political views), and they have two children.