In honor of departing cultural Ambassador Mehdi Tabeshian of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, the American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) held a small farewell luncheon in New York on November 30, 2004. AIIrS officials in attendance were President Franklin Lewis, Former President Prudence Harper, Life Trustee William Hanaway, Treasurer Judith Lerner, and Director Erica Ehrenberg. Ambassador Tabeshian has served in his post for four years and is returning to Iran in January 2005. He has been the key facilitator of AIIrS programs in Iran and has worked ceaselessly both to support and promote the mission, while also engaging in Iranian cultural activities on US soil. It was through his efforts that AIIrS was invited to co-sponsor events such as the celebration for historian Richard Frye in New York, December 2003, and the exhibition of photographs of the site of Bam at the UN, November 2004. The Ambassador has also devoted considerable energy to the development of Persian language curriculums for American students at primary through university levels, and AIIrS has provided him with contacts in higher education. In December 2003, he was a principal participant in the AIIrS Roundtable on academic exchange between the US and Iran, and identified potential areas for future collaboration. Upon taking his leave, Ambassador Tabeshian thanked AIIrS for its cooperation, expressed appreciation for the efforts of AIIrS to further the field of Iranian Studies in the US despite the unsettled political situation between the two countries, and offered to be of service from his new position in Iran.