Afshin Nemati.
In the quiet after a headline-grabbing proposal that the Iranian government dictate appropriate hairstyles for men, officials there say they haven't taken the recommendations despite the efforts of a man who claims to have roots in Canada but is nowhere to be found.
Afshin Nemati, who says he is based in Toronto, appeared on Iranian state television earlier this month to plug the idea of banning mullets and putting the kibosh on ponytails in the culturally conservative Middle Eastern country. The idea, brought forward by a group called the Veil and Modesty Festival, was met with much fanfare, became the butt of online jokes and appeared in newspapers all over the world.
Last week, the deputy of artistic affairs in the Iranian government's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance denied suggestions that it has a mandate that requires certain hairdos for men.
"To date, the work group for the rectification of fashion and clothing has not had any plans or initiatives about hair style," Mohammad Hossein Imani said.
The official sought to correct media reports that said the hairstyle recommendations, meant to limit coifs inspired by the Western world, had been approved by the government, and suggested there are few plans to pursue them, said the report in Khabaroline.ir.
At the centre of the hairstyles story is Mr. Nemati, who told the Iranian media that an academy for study of these haircuts would be set up in Canada with the help of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Mr. Nemati is the Middle East department manager for the Advertising & Marketing Association of Canada, a company that has been conducting market research and creating brochures and advertising since 1998, according to its website.
AMACA is a registered business in Ontario and lists Mr. Nemati as the sole proprietor. The business address is for a condo on Northtown Way in North York, Ont. A Toronto business address posted on the site is not the Canadian headquarters of AMACA but the place Mr. Nemati goes to do his personal taxes.
Davoud Akbari was surprised to learn that his client, who has been coming once a year for the past five years - only staying for a few minutes to sign paperwork - listed Accounts Accounting Services as a business address.
"I don't know why he would use my address," Mr. Akbari said. "[Mr. Nemati]came here and said he was going to do business in import and export," but the man, who Mr. Akbari pegged to be in his mid-40s, did not offer many details.
The Canadian Marketing Association and other advertising standards associations say they have never heard of AMACA.
A bio on the website says Mr. Nemati was president of AMACA Emerging Markets, where he steered the company in 25 countries.
It also says he holds a "Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree from York University." However, the university registrar has no record of an Afshin Nemati among its graduates for doctorate programs within the business school or elsewhere in the university, York spokeswoman Janice Walls said.
Mr. Nemati is also a lecturer for a company called Fekrefarda. On its website, he's listed as a graduate of the University of Toronto.
Efforts to reach Mr. Nemati by e-mail, phone and on social-networking sites proved fruitless. Calls to Nematis across the country also came up empty.
A receptionist at AMACA's Iranian office in Tehran, which is also the headquarters of a company named ASIGRP that does software, export-import of electronics and seminars, did answer the phone, but could not put a reporter through to Mr. Nemati.
For now, it's unclear whether the international businessman of mystery will make another appeal for the haircut recommendations. But if he does, he'll surely have the support of American comedian Stephen Colbert, who, in his fake-conservative persona on The Colbert Report, welcomed the notion of banning certain haircuts - especially mullets.
With a report from Rick Cash