Soviet Middle East diplomat who witnessed the 1973 war and the Iranian Revolution from inside
In June 1979, Khomeini summoned Vinogradov and warned him directly: "We are watching what you are doing to the Muslims of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union is hostile to Islam."
A Soviet diplomat who rose from trade postings to become a central figure in Brezhnev-era Middle East diplomacy. As ambassador to Egypt (1970–1974), he managed Moscow's relationship through the transition from Nasser to Sadat and coordinated the Soviet response during the October 1973 war. Transferred to Tehran in 1977, he witnessed the collapse of the Pahlavi monarchy and the Islamic Revolution, navigating tense exchanges with Khomeini over Afghanistan and Soviet regional ambitions. He later served eight years as Foreign Minister of the RSFSR (1982–1990), sustaining the institutional continuity of Soviet diplomacy, and after retirement chaired the Russian committee for Arab-Israeli settlement.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1939–1943Active service, Red Army
- 1948–1950Head of Department, USSR Trade Mission, UK
- 1950–1952Deputy Trade Representative, USSR, UK
- 1952–1956Deputy Chief, Western Countries Trade Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Trade
- 1956–1962Chief, Western Countries Trade Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Trade
- 1962–1967Ambassador to Japan
- 1967–1970Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, USSR
- 1970–1974Ambassador to Egypt (UAR)
- 1974–1977Ambassador-at-Large, USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- 1977–1982Ambassador to Iran
- 1982–1990Minister of Foreign Affairs, RSFSR
- 1990–1997Lecturer at MGIMO; Chairman, Committee for Middle East Settlement
Related historical events
Sadat’s Egyptian realignment and the 1973 war
As Soviet ambassador in Cairo, Vinogradov had to manage competing assessments of Egypt’s changing alignment. Younger Soviet diplomats at the embassy judged that Sadat would loosen ties with Moscow and turn toward the United States, while another view held that the existing relationship would endure. In a later recollection, Baklanov said Vinogradov summoned him, acknowledged that his analysis might be right, but said the embassy’s task was to prevent that forecast from coming true. The view that Egypt was moving toward Washington gradually gained ground among Soviet diplomats. Egypt continued to depend on Soviet arms after the withdrawal of Soviet military personnel in 1972, while Moscow also continued supplying Syria.
When Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked Israeli forces on 6 October 1973, Moscow officially learned of the war only after it had begun. In Baklanov’s recollection, he had worked as an interpreter and attaché at the USSR Embassy in Egypt in 1969–1972. Sadat called Vinogradov after Egyptian troops had reached the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, but spoke instead with Vinogradov’s secretary, Vafu Guluzade. This account describes the outbreak of war without prior official notice to the ambassador. The Soviet Union nevertheless shipped weapons to Egypt, and the embassy’s military channel acquired Western weapons and equipment for study, including a British Centurion tank, a U.S. M48 tank, and an unmanned aircraft. After the war, Vinogradov also took part in the Arab-Israeli negotiations launched in Geneva in 1974.