first political student union at Tehran University and became the first chairman of the University of Tehran's Student Union, which was dominated by the Tudeh Party of Iran. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi's first major political effort focused on students' well-being: a successful campaign to convert the abandoned barracks of US military forces occupying Tehran into a suitable dormitory for university students, an incident amusingly recounted by the noted historian Bastani Parizi. As the movement to nationalize Iran's oil resources strengthened, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi gained prominence as a leftist student organizer and writer, often at odds with other student groups, including the liberal Iran Party as well as religious organizations. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi described in several places his increasing disenchantment with the Tudeh Party's blind and misguided following of Soviet Russia's interests. In 1952 Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was sentenced to internal exile for his political activity, but the verdict was delayed, and ultimately rejected. With the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi's political career ended abruptly. His political activity significantly influenced his younger brother, Hassan Zia-Zarifi, who went on to establish the ideological principles of leftist armed struggle in Iran and is considered one of the founders of the Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas. Hassan Zia-Zarifi's detention and extrajudicial execution in 1975 consumed much of Abolhassan's energy and placed him under constant supervision and suspicion during the Shah's reign. Medical, Scientific and Philanthropic Work Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi began his public health career in 1952 with the Iranian Ministry of Health, and culminated with his position as the Director General of Iran's Laboratories (1975–1979) and his establishing and directing Iran's National Reference Laboratories, equivalent to the Centers for Disease Control (1965–1975). His work focused on pulmonary diseases, in particular legionnaire's disease and tuberculosis. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was instrumental in expanding laboratory coverage in rural Iran, and adapting international standards for Iran's difficult economic and physical conditions. Poverty and logistical difficulties often prevented rural laboratories from following strict international protocols. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi and his colleagues set about adapting these protocols for use with limited resources. As a result, he became a consultant to the World Health Organization in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including stints working against cholera in Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s, in Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and Congo (1972). He remained a proficient member of the WHO's Emergency Team from 1974 to 1996. In 1971, he led efforts to extend health