The Washington Dossier, a now defunct monthly society magazine, called him “one of Washington’s 10 perfect gentlemen.” He was also one of its most eligible bachelors and an irrepressible bon vivant. On any given night, he might be leading a conga line through the hallways of his embassy. Or he might be out on the town with Jacqueline Onassis, Liza Minnelli or Barbara Walters, though he was most often romantically linked with Ms. Taylor. But behind his image as the playboy of the Western world, as he was called more than once, Mr. Zahedi was central in cementing the power of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Mr. Zahedi, who was the shah’s son-in-law, was closely connected to influential businessmen and politicians, and he knew eight American presidents, from Truman to the senior Bush.
