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Profile: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, The Iranian Foreign Minister Close To Revolutionary Guards

By Kian Sharifi May 19, 2024

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is a conservative figure who enjoys the support of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Tehran's top diplomat is suspicious of the West and a vocal supporter of the "axis of resistance," Iran's loose network of militant groups and proxies, against Israel and the United States.

The 60-year-old's appointment in 2021 was seen as part of the Raisi administration's disengagement with the West and its focus on the Middle East region. He is said to be fluent in Arabic, while his English appears to be limited.

On May 19, Amir-Abdollahian and ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi were returning from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan when their helicopter crashed in Iran's mountainous northwest. Their fates were not immediately clear.

Born in the northern city of Damghan in 1960, Amir-Abdollahian did not enlist to fight in the devastating 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and instead attended university and eventually obtained a PhD in international relations.

He climbed the ladder in the Foreign Ministry quickly and his first posting was in Iran's Embassy in Iraq in the late 1990s.

In an apparent sign of the Islamic republic's faith in Amir-Abdollahian, the young diplomat was named in a three-man delegation to represent Iran in rare talks with the United States over the war in Iraq.

Amir-Abdollahian served in various roles in the ministry, notably as ambassador to Bahrain, deputy minister for Arab and African Affairs, and head of the Persian Gulf Department.

His involvement in Tehran's relations with Iraq and the activities of the IRGC in Iran's western neighbor allowed him to forge a relationship with Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the IRGC's overseas arm. Soleimani was killed in a U.S. air strike near Baghdad in 2020.

Ahead of his appointment as foreign minister, conservative lawmaker Ali Alizadeh praised Amir-Abdollahian as the "Soleimani of diplomacy."

In 2016, amid rumors that he had fallen out with then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, he turned down an offer to become Iran's envoy in Oman and left the ministry.

But Amir-Abdollahian quickly landed on his feet and was appointed as foreign affairs adviser to then-Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, where he remained until he was named foreign minister.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-minister-hossein- amirabdollahian-helicopter/32953987.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.