At the end of World War II, Wright returned to London where he worked for the Ottoman Bank, however he soon resigned and joined the British Foreign Service. His first posting was in Belgrade from 1946 to 1948, then as a trade consul in Chicago. In 1951, he returned to the UK to serve as the head of economic relations for the Foreign Office. In 1953, he was sent to Iran to re-open the British embassy there, after the overthrow of Mohammad Mosaddegh's government in a "coup d'etat", which began his long association with the country.