Mohammad Amir Khatami, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, was the commander of the Iranian air force, advisor to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the second husband of Princess Fatimeh Pahlavi, half-sister of the Shah.
Background
Khatami was born in Rasht in 1920. His father, Mir Mahmoud Khatami Ajlal al-Sultan, son of Sayyid Murtaza Sharif al-Ulama, son of Mir Abd al-Baqi Musavi Sharif al-Ulama, was a tea house owner and later dealt with real estate. His mother was a relative of Imam Jomeh, a significant religious figure in Tehran and a relative of Nasr ed Din Shah.
Education
After graduating from the American High School in Tehran, Khatami then attended the military high school. In 1939, he began to study at the air force branch of the military college and graduated as a second lieutenant. He graduated from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
Career
Next he went to the United Kingdom and joined pilot training courses. He was also trained at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany, in the 1950s. In 1946, Khatami was named personal pilot of the Shah.
In 1957, Khatami was appointed chief of staff for the imperial air force.
He succeeded Hedayat Gilanshah in the post following the latter"s death in a plane crash. Khatami served in this post until his death in 1975.
In addition, he served as the chairman of the board of the Iranian National Airlines and chief of the council of the Civil Aviation Department. He was also co-owner of a construction company.
Khatami died in a kiting accident on 12 September 1975 in Dezful.
His death has been considered to be mysterious and the Shah was implicated in his death. National honours Foreign honours.