Ravan A. G. Farhâdi

Abdul Ghafoor Ravan Farhâdi (; 23 August 1929 – 26 July 2026) was an Afghan academic and diplomat who served as Afghanistan's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 2006.

Early life and education Farhâdi was an ethnic Tajik from Kabul. He graduated from Lycée Esteqlal in Kabul, in 1948. Farhâdi studied at the Institut d'études politiques in Paris, France, achieving an MA degree in 1952. He then earned his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, in Indo-Iranian Studies, in 1955. His paper was on "le Persan parlé en Afghanistan", later translated to English and Russian. Farhâdi was fluent in French, English and Persian.

Career as a diplomat In 1955, Farhâdi assumed a position as lecturer in the History of political thought at Kabul University. but has also acknowledged Israel's right to exist.

Political views Farhâdi was highly critical of Pakistan, saying it supported the Taliban. He was in favour of a government composed of all of Afghanistan's ethnic communities, including Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras, Baluchs and Pashtuns, but rejected the idea of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to include moderate Taliban members in the next government. During the presidential elections of 2009, in which Abdullah Abdullah was the main challenger of Karzai, Farhâdi spoke in favour of Abdullah, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After the fall of the Taliban, Farhâdi tried to put pressure on the U.S. government to give more aid to Afghanistan, especially to compensate the families who lost civilian family members in U.S. bombings.

Death Farhâdi died on 26 July 2026, at the age of 96.