Habib Sabet
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Habib Sabet | |
|---|---|
 Sabet in 1964 | |
| Born | 1903 |
| Died | 1990 (aged 86–87) Los Angeles, United States |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of the first television station in Iran |
Habib Sabet (Persian: حبیب ثابت; 1903 – 1990) was a businessman and follower of the Baháʼí Faith.[1][2] He was one of Iran's major industrialists.[3]
Sabet was born in Tehran in 1903.[1] Both his maternal and paternal grandparents were Iranian Jews who had converted to the Bahá’i Faith.[4] He began to involve in business selling tobacco and renting bicycles.[5] In 1925, he went to Beirut where he started his transport services between Tehran and Baghdad.[6] In the 1950s, his business activities expanded and mostly included car dealerships, manufacturing, and agricultural machinery.[5]
One of his companies was Firooz Trading Company.[7] He was granted the franchises of many American and European brands, including General Electric, Kelvinator, Westinghouse and Volkswagen.[8] In 1955, he managed to acquire the rights to bottle Pepsi Cola in Iran.[5] However, the same year due to the anti-Baháʼí movements, and the fatwa of Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi against Pepsi, Sabet became the target of attacks.[5]
Sabet was also the founder of Iran's first television station.[3][9] His television station was called "Iran Television" which was launched in Tehran on 23 October 1958.[7]
Sabet left Iran before the Iranian Revolution in 1979,[6] and he spent his remaining years in Paris, France. He died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure in 1990 at the age of 86.[6][10] He had the Sabet Pasal built in Tehran, a palace modeled after the Petit Trianon in Versailles.[11] His companies and other assets were confiscated by the Islamic government of Iran shortly after its establishment.[6]
