Mystery photograph is of Iranian official

Michelle Fayette is the Executive director at Kenny Rogers Children's Center in Sikeston.Southeast Missourian

A photo submitted by Leonard Clayton of Cape Girardeau was published a few months ago on the Faces & Places page of the Southeast Missourian. The original news story was discovered in the Southeast Missourian archives and supplied identification of all the individuals.

The story that ran with the photo on April 3, 1958:

Iran Official Studying Cape

The "hustle of a small American community in action" was the object for study today by Shoja-ed-din Malayeri, director general of the Ministry of Interior in Iran, who arrived in Cape Girardeau last Wednesday for a three-day stay. Accompanying him here was his interpreter, Andre Fiot, a representative of the State Department in Washington, D.C.

Malayeri and Fiot arrived by plane from Chicago and were met by their officially appointed host Wm. A. Gerhardt; members of the Community Ambassador Committee, Leonard L. Clayton and L. A. Thompson Jr. and Mayor Walter H. Ford.

Malayeri was honored at a reception at Gerhardt's home where he became acquainted with some 70 local citizens from various professions and walks of life. He visited the Chamber of Commerce, SEMO University, the International Shoe Co. factory, The Southeast Missourian and one of the local hospitals. He was a guest at the Kiwanis Club dinner meeting.

Malayeri gathered pictures and infomration for a book he is writing to demonstrate the U.S. is a country of economic opportunity and strength. He will use the book in part to combat Communist propoganda and will be taking pictures for his book while here.

The trip to Cape Girardeau is part of a two-month tour in the United States under a program sponsored by the Governmental Affairs Institute, an affiliate of the State Department and is for the purpose of strengthening international relations. ...

He first arrived in the U.S. on March 4 and has visited a number of large cities in the East. His ongoing tour continues with a stop in Austin, Texas and then onto the West Coast.

Malayeri, a native of Tehran, Iran, is the top civil servant in the Ministry and is also a columnist for Tehran Mossavar and a contributor to other papers. He has served in many other governmental positions in the past and as a foreign representative.

Malayeri said that in his opinion this country has the highest standard of living of any country he has visited. He felt that our standard of living could not be compared to that of other countries because it is so high. Malayeri was much impressed with the fact that foreigners coming to the U.S. could find employment easily and were usually helped by American people. American food did not sit well with him until discovering "filet mignon."