United Nations Press Briefings (Fall 1951)
| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | April 20, 2025 |
 |
Hossein Fatemi (1919-1954) was an Iranian journalist and newspaper publisher who became the most vital member of Premier Mohammad Mossadegh’s nationalist government; serving as Deputy Prime Minister, official spokesman, and, at the age of 33, the youngest Foreign Minister in Iran’s history.
After the British-controlled Iranian oil industry was
nationalized in May 1951, the government of Britain took the dispute to the
World Court and eventually
the United Nations Security Council. In October 1951, an Iranian delegation, led by Premier Mossadegh, arrived in New York for the showdown. They spent six weeks in New York, Philadelphia and the Washington DC area, engaging in
direct talks with
U.S. intermediaries, including
the President.
At the UN, Fatemi and his colleagues gave daily press briefings. One UN correspondent described Fatemi’s
effectiveness thusly:
“He was worth his weight in gold to his country. Clever, smart, well-informed, he handled the correspondents with the skill of a diplomat. At first some of the correspondents, English and American, if not critical were at least a bit sharp. But at his last press conference—there was one every morning for a week—a very friendly attitude developed. At that time he thanked them for their cooperation and announced that the Iranian delegation was going to have a party for the press.”
Fatemi was joined by two colleagues. The man in dark glasses is Fereydoun Adamayit, Iranian diplomat and historian. The other man is unidentified.
• Source of above photos: Jebhe Melli (National Front of Iran).
Related links:
Why Is Mohammed Mossadegh Over Here? | Boston Globe, Oct. 11, 1951
Iranian Youth in Indiana: “Iran is friendly with the West” (July 1951)
Iran Embassy Press Attaché Defends Premier Mossadegh | July 22, 1953
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
