Who was Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian?
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Born in 1964, Dr Hossein Amirabdollahian held a master’s degree and a doctorate in international relations from the University of Tehran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Tehran – Dr Hossein Amirabdollahian was picked to be Iran’s foreign minister in 2021 by President Ebrahim Raisi during a volatile time for Iran’s regional ties and for its relationship with the West.
Dr Amirabdollahian was a career diplomat and, like Mr Raisi, a hardliner. The two men died in a helicopter crash
Considered closely aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Dr Amirabdollahian was also believed to have had a close relationship with General Qassem Soleimani, the powerful leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, whom the US killed in a drone strike in 2020.
Born in 1964, Dr Amirabdollahian held a master’s degree and a doctorate in international relations from the University of Tehran, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
He was fluent in Arabic and his diplomatic experience focused on Iran’s relationships in the Middle East. He spent five years as deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs from 2011-16 and three years as Iran’s ambassador to Bahrain from 2007-10.
His tenure as foreign minister was starkly different to that of his predecessor, Dr Mohammad Javad Zarif, the moderate, American-educated diplomat who helped broker the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, including the US.
Dr Zarif made that deal in close collaboration with Mr John Kerry, who served as secretary of state under then president Barack Obama, and he was later heard on a leaked audiotape discussing a rivalry with Gen Soleimani.
After he was confirmed as foreign minister in 2021, Dr Amirabdollahian emphasised that Iran’s relationships with its neighbours would be a top priority, and he quickly took a tougher stance against the US in talks about reviving the nuclear deal, which former president Donald Trump had abandoned.
Dr Amirabdollahian was also a key figure in the spillover from the Oct 7 Hamas-led attacks, which prompted Israel to go to war in the Gaza Strip. Iran backs several armed groups in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Dr Amirabdollahian had been vocal about the threat of a broader conflict for months before Iran’s shadow war with Israel burst into the open in April, when Israel killed senior military leaders in a strike on an Iranian embassy complex in Syria, and Iran fired a volley of drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation.
Dr Amirabdollahian repeatedly condemned the US for backing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. In an interview with The New York Times in November, he said, “If the US continues its military, political and financial support of Israel and helps manage Israel’s military attacks on Palestinian civilians, then it must face its consequences.”
Dr Amirabdollahian’s deputy for political affairs, Mr Ali Bagheri Kani, who, on May 20, was named “caretaker” of the Foreign Ministry, has been leading Iranian delegations that have secretly and indirectly negotiated with the US in Oman on at least three occasions over the past year.
The talks addressed the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the targeting of US military personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iran’s proxies, and a ceasefire in Gaza. NYTIMES
