November 03, 2016
Iraj Mesbahzadeh passed away on November 3, 2016 in MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Iraj was born in Tehran, Iran in 1947. He was the eldest son of Dr. Mostafa Mesbahzadeh, the founder and owner of Kayhan Publishing Group in Iran.
Iraj attended Hadaf High School in Tehran. He left Iran for the United States to complete his undergraduate studies at American University in Washington, D.C. where he received a B.A. in Political Science in 1972. He later obtained a Masters Degree in Mass Communications from Boston University in 1974.
He returned to his beloved homeland Iran after finishing his studies and joined the family publishing business as the Vice-President of Kayhan Publishing Group. He took the helm of Kayhan International, which was the leading English-language newspaper in the Middle East. In addition to overseeing the publication of Kayhan International, Iraj was also responsible for supervising the operation at-large of Kayhan Publishing House, until 1979 when he left Iran for the last time.
Iraj had an easy-going and warm personality. He was adored by his family and friends; and was cherished and respected by his colleagues. Iraj lived in New York City for 20 years before leaving for California to be closer to his parents who had moved there from Paris in their final years. He moved to Houston, Texas three years ago, where he enjoyed being close to his daughter Mitra, and son-in-law Michael, as well as his many close and beloved old and life long friends.
His immediate surviving family members include his daughter Mitra and son-in-law Michael Margolis, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Ali-Reza Vahabzadeh, his brother Parviz and sister-in-law Leila Mesbahzadeh, his niece and nephew Yassaman and Amir-Ali Mesbahzadeh, his sister Nazanin Mesbahzadeh and her children Kamyar and Sarvenaz Vahabzadeh; and his ex-wife and life-long close friend Azita Motamed Mujica-Beavers.
