He held a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.

He had been a part-time lecturer for the Technical Faculty at Tehran University for many years.

Bakhtiari wrote a number of short essays and is the author of Peaks and Troughs which is about the modern history of Iran.

Bakhtiari suggested that it would require an act of god for the world to avoid warring over depleting energy resources.

He was survived by his children, Amir Bahman and Golbenaz Samsam Bakhtiari.