Zahedi served as ambassador to the United States from 1960 to 1962 and to the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1966.Under Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida, he served as minister of foreign affairs from 1966 to 1971. Zahedi again became ambassador to the United States from 1973 until the Revolution climaxed in January 1979.
During his second stint in Washington, he won a reputation for extravagance. In the mid-1970s, Zahedi became known as a companion of the American actress Elizabeth Taylor. During the 1977 Hanafi Siege of a federal building in Washington, Zahedi and two other ambassadors from Muslim nations were able to talk the hostage-takers into surrendering and releasing 149 hostages.
