Alone among Persians he has never allowed personal or even party interest to interfere with his policy. By his uncompromising resistance to Russian encroachments he became the symbol of Persia’s will to resist….He is both honest and energetic — a very rare combination in Persia….The comparative lack of success of his party was due reconcil his progressive ideas with the conservation of many of his followers. Has something of a mystic in him.”Seyyed Zia died on 29 August 1969 at the age of 80 of a heart attack in Tehran. He was buried at the Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in Ray.