William Sullivan, last US ambassador to Tehran, has died at 90. I had clashes wi…

William Sullivan, last US ambassador to Tehran, has died at 90. I had clashes with him in Tehran as he sympathised with anti-Shah groups while I believed that, at thattime, the Shah was the best possible option for Iran. After the mullahs came to power I met Sullivan in New York at Columbia University where he had been named president. He expressed regret that he had misunderstood the situation in Iran by believeing that the Shah could be replaced with a pro-West demcoratic regime. In a curious coincidence our meeting in New York was on the day that Ronald Reagan was shot in an abortive attempt on his life. Sullivan, a staunch anti-Reagan advocate, was sad not because the President had survived but because " the attempt on his life would ensure his re-election." During our long conversation, partly over lunch, I learned a valuable lesson from Sullivan: If you are anti-American, Americans like Sullivan would appreciate you. If you are a friend of America, like the Shah was, they will stab you in the back and say sorry afterwards!

Amir Taheri