Who is Abbas Araghtchi, the Nominee for Iran’s Foreign Minister?

The Iranian Parliament will begin reviewing President Massoud Pezeshkian’s nominations for new ministerial positions on Monday, with the most prominent being the selection of Abbas Araghtchi as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Last month, the Iranians officially elected Massoud Pezeshkian as the President of Iran, following his victory in the elections held after the death of former President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

On Sunday, the new reformist Iranian President, Massoud Pezeshkian, presented his proposed cabinet to the Majlis (Islamic Consultative Assembly). The Speaker of the Assembly, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, announced the names of the nineteen ministers during a parliamentary session broadcasted on state television. The Assembly will begin reviewing the ministers’ names on Monday, with a vote on each expected to start on Saturday.

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Who is Abbas Araghtchi ?

Abbas Araghtchi is a seasoned diplomat, born in Tehran in 1962. He served as the chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West from 2013 to 2021.

He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989, and in the early 1990s, he served as the chargé d’affaires of Iran’s permanent mission to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He has also been Iran’s ambassador to Finland, Estonia, Turkey, and Japan, and served as Deputy Foreign Minister for Asian and Pacific Affairs for two years before briefly becoming the Ministry’s spokesperson in 2013.

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Under former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Araghtchi was the second most influential official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, holding positions such as Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs as well as Deputy Minister for Political Affairs.

Araghtchi holds a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of Kent, after earning a Master’s degree in Political Science and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Iranian universities.

Araghtchi is also considered to be within the close circle of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.