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Chiefs of Mission for Iran
NOTE TO READERS
Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.
Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
Chiefs of Mission
- Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin (1837–1914)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, June 11, 1883–May 18, 1885
- Frederick Hampden Winston (1830–1904)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, April 5, 1886–June 10, 1886
- E. Spencer Pratt (?–)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, November 24, 1886–June 4, 1891
- Truxtun Beale (1856–1936)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, August 27, 1891–April 4, 1892
- Watson Robertson Sperry (1842–1926)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, January 11, 1893–August 29, 1893
- Alexander McDonald (1827–1897)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, August 29, 1893–September 13, 1897
- Arthur Sherburne Hardy (1847–1930)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, November 27, 1897–April 22, 1899
- Herbert Wolcott Bowen (1856–1927)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, August 27, 1899–May 1, 1901
- Lloyd Carpenter Griscom (1872–1959)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 16, 1901–December 24, 1902
- Richmond Pearson (1852–1923)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 19, 1903–November 12, 1907
- John Brinkerhoff Jackson (1862–1920)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 12, 1907–July 3, 1909
- Charles Wells Russell (1856–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 28, 1910–September 19, 1914
- John Lawrence Caldwell (1875–1922)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 19, 1914–April 9, 1921
- Joseph Saul Kornfeld (1876–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, April 11, 1922–September 1, 1924
- Hoffman Philip (1872–1951)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, January 7, 1926–September 16, 1928
- Charles Calmer Hart (1878–1956)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, February 9, 1930–October 31, 1933
- William Harrison Hornibrook (1884–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 19, 1934–March 16, 1936
- Gordon Phelps Merriam (1899–1999)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, March 1936–May 1937
- Cornelius Van Hemert Engert (1887–1985)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, June 1937–December 1940
- Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. (1889–1973)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 18, 1940–December 12, 1943
- Leland Burnette Morris (1886–1950)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 21, 1944–May 20, 1945
- Wallace Smith Murray (1887–1965)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 5, 1945–April 18, 1946
- George Venable Allen (1903–1970)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 11, 1946–February 17, 1948
- John Cooper Wiley (1893–1967)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 6, 1948–June 18, 1950
- Henry Francis Grady (1882–1957)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 2, 1950–September 19, 1951
- Loy Wesley Henderson (1892–1986)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 29, 1951–December 30, 1954
- Selden Chapin (1899–1963)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 19, 1955–June 2, 1958
- Edward Thompson Wailes (1903–1969)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 19, 1958–June 9, 1961
- Julius Cecil Holmes (1899–1968)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 17, 1961–March 13, 1965
- Armin Henry Meyer (1914–2006)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 27, 1965–May 30, 1969
- Douglas MacArthur II (1909–1997)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 13, 1969–February 17, 1972
- Joseph Simpson Farland (1914–2007)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 21, 1972–March 10, 1973
- Richard McGarrah Helms (1913–2002)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 5, 1973–December 27, 1976
- William Healy Sullivan (1922–2013)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 18, 1977–April 6, 1979
- Lowell Bruce Laingen (1922–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, –April 7, 1980
- Laingen was serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim when the Embassy in Tehran was seized on November 4, 1979. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980. Laingen and the Embassy staff were released on January 20, 1981.
Other Nominees
- Henry Harris Jessup (1832–1910)
- Chargé d’Affaires and Consul General: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin (1837–1914)
- Chargé d’Affaires and Consul General: Commissioned to Persia. Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post in this capacity.
- Bayless W. Hanna (1830–1891)
- Minister Resident/Consul General: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate. Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post. Commissioned to Persia.
- Alexander McDonald (1827–1897)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; commission canceled the same day. Commissioned to Persia.
- William Paine Lord (1838–1911)
- Minister Resident/Consul General: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; declined appointment. Commissioned to Persia.
- Herbert Wolcott Bowen (1856–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Commissioned to Persia. Took oath of office, but did not present credentials.
- Julius Cecil Holmes (1899–1968)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- Walter Leon Cutler (1931–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Did not proceed to post, the Government of Iran having refused to receive him.