[2] Ali Akbar Tabatabaei was born on 4 September 1930, in Hamedan, Imperial State of Persia, to a prominent Iranian family, he was the grandson of a mullah.

[1] Tabatabaei came to the United States in 1952 with dreams about becoming an architect, and to study at Howard University's School of Architecture.

[1] In 1975, Ardeshir Zahedi, was named ambassador to Washington and Tabatabaei joined him to resume working at the Iranian embassy.

[1] After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he continued his exile in the United States and actively criticized the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

[1] On 22 July 1980, Tabatabaei was shot and killed on the front door of his Bethesda, Maryland, home by Dawud Salahuddin.