Abdol Karim Ayadi, who was the son of one of the famous Baha’i families in Iran, was a doctor in the army, and he first visited the court of the Shah to treat the mental illnesses of Alireza Pahlavi, the brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and then he became Pahlavi II’s comrade. This friendship went to a point where it was said: “No one believed that Ayadi would make a request to the king and it would not be granted”.
General Ayadi was versatile and had many jobs, and once “Hussein Fardoost”, the general of the Pahlavi regime, told Mohammad Reza that this gentleman had many government jobs and described the story in the book “The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Sultanate” as follows: He [Ayadi] had created about 80 jobs for himself in the country, jobs that were all important and money-making; He was the head of the general health department of the army and in this position, he was in charge of the building of the army hospitals, importing the equipment for this hospital, importing necessary medicines, and everything else. The rank of medical personnel of the army from sergeant to lieutenant general was under his command, and no colonel doctor could become a brigadier general without his order, and any violation of his order was accompanied by dismissal and punishment.
Ayadi was the head of “ATKA” of the army and police forces, and in this position, all the requirements had to be prepared by his order. Whatever he wanted, even if it was available in the country, had to be imported for the army from abroad, especially England and America. Determining the quota and hundreds of other tasks and even determining the heads of the bases and its personnel were with him. The pharmaceutical organization of the country was completely under the command of Ayadi.
Southern Fisheries were under Ayadi’s authority, and it was Ayadi’s authority to determine which countries and companies were allowed to fish and which ones were not. As a result of his policies fishing in Iran was done with the most primitive means. The appointment of the director and personnel of the fisheries was also with Ayadi.
Someone checked his jobs once and it reached 80. He reported to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza asked him why does he want 80 jobs? Ayadi answered jokingly: “My goal is to get 100 jobs”.
Some references from the Baha’i sources :
An installment of the Soraya Memoirs, autobiographical story of Princess Soraya Esfendiary, onetime queen of Iran, appeared in the June 30 issue of the magazine Quick, published in Munich, Germany. Several pages were taken up by the article and its illustrations, the first of which showed the Shah and his former consort with Dr. Ayadi, the faithful Bahá’í physician whom Princess Soraya credits with saving her life. Temporarily relieved of duty, as a protective measure, during the Bahá’í persecution, Dr. Ayadi now ranks high in the Shah’s service.
https://bahai.works/Baha%27i_News/Issue_391/Text
When Jeanne was forty years old, she accepted a position as governess for the children of the Dutch ambassador in Tihran. Perhaps she was the only Dutch Bahá’í who first heard about the Cause in the very Cradle of the Faith. The story began the moment that she, through her own physician, came in contact with Dr. Ayadi. Later she read in the newspaper that he was not only a Bahá’í but that he was also the personal physician of the Shah…
…At her next visit to Dr. Ayadi, she asked him if she could visit the temple of the Bahá’ís. He laughed and said that he would be happy to bring her, but they did not have a temple. Later Jeanne got the address of the administrative center and found behind an old entrance “another world, with a beautiful garden.”
https://bahai.works/In_Memoriam_1992-1997/Jeanne_Kranen
General Dr. Ayadi, the son and grandson of two Hands of the Cause respectively, was the shah’s personal physician for many years. When the shah wanted to go to America on an official visit, General Dr. Ayadi informed him that he would have to have permission from the Head of the Baha’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, before he could go to America.
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