Born in capital in 1919 to Habibollah Hoveyda (Ayn ol-Molk), a seasoned diplomat, who was mostly active during the latter years of the Qajar dynasty, and Afsar ol-Moluk, a descendant of the royal family that Hoveyda would serve for much of his adult life. Hoveyda’s father was a lapsed adherent of the Baháʼí Faith and Hoveyda himself was not religious. He was the nephew of Abdol Hossein Sardari, also known as “Schindler of homeland”.