SCANDAL – “Pressing the Flesh” – President Mellie Grant hosts a state dinner for President Rashad of Bashran in a first step toward peace in the Middle East, and in case Mellie’s charm alone doesn’t work, Olivia secretly puts Jake to work so that they are armed with a back-up plan. Meanwhile, the team at Quinn Perkins & Associates attends the party in hopes to gain more high-profile clientele, on “Scandal,” airing THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 (9:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Mitch Haaseth)BELLAMY YOUNG, FARAN TAHIR Pakistani-American Hollywood actor Faran Tahir made an appearance in the second episode of the seventh season of American TV series ‘Scandal’. The episode, which aired on October 12, featured Faran Tahir in the role of Bashran’s President Rashad, who is the US President Mellie Grant’s guest of honour at a state dinner designed to mend relations with the unstable Bashrani government. Since Bashran is within a year of nuclear capability, the ultimate goal of the US government in this episode was to get Rashad’s signature on a de-proliferation agreement. Initially refusing to cave into any pressure or blackmail, Rashad eventually agrees to negotiate when he is saved from an assassination attempt. The episode ended with hinting a possible romance between President Rashad and President Mellie Grant. Tahir’s role in the final seventh season of Scandal is a recurring one. He will next be seen in the fourth episode, which aired on Thursday, followed by the fifth episode, which will air on November 2. ‘Scandal’ is a Shonda Rhimes production, which airs on ABC Network. The star cast of the show also includes Kerry Washington, Guillermo Diaz, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Tony Goldwyn, Jeff Perry, Bellamy Young, Joshua Malina, Scott Foley, George Newbern and Cornelius Smith Jr. Tahir is a Pakistani-American film and television actor. Tahir is best known for his act as Raza, the leader of a terrorist organization, “The Ten Rings” in Iron Man. In 1985, he appeared as Bolshintsov in UC Berkeley’s production of A Month in the Country. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a BA in Theatre before acquiring a graduate degree from the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. He made his film debut playing Nathoo in the Disney’s 1994 live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. He has since appeared in such films as Picture Perfect, Anywhere But Here and Charlie Wilson’s War. He also played the male lead in the 1999 independent film ABCD. In 2008, Tahir played the role of the villain Raza in the Marvel Comics-based Iron Man. He played Starfleet Captain Richard Robau in the 2009 film Star Trek. In 2013, Tahir played President Patel in the science-fiction film Elysium. Tahir has guest starred on many television series, including Alias, The Practice, Family Law, The Agency, NYPD Blue, Lost, 7th Heaven, The West Wing, Walker, Texas Ranger, The DA, 24, Monk, Justice, Cold Case, Chuck and Warehouse 13. He also co-starred with Robert Beltran and Chase Masterson in the 2005 Sci-Fi Channel original movie Manticore. He also starred in the medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy as Isaac and appeared on the CW series Supernatural as the Egyptian god Osiris in the seventh season’s episode “Defending Your Life”. He appeared a Ruslan Denisov in The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 11, as Detective Terrence Amos in How To Get Away With Murder Season 1 Episode 10 and as Dr Alan Kobrine in Backstrom Season 1, Episode 9. He is also played Frank, Cliff Barnes’ right-hand man in the reboot of Dallas. Tahir starred in the ghost horror film Jinn. He appeared in JAG in the episodes “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown” which served as the two pilot episodes for the series NCIS. Seven years later, Tahir appeared in the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles. Published in Daily Times, October 31st 2017.