Iranian politician (1964?2024)
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
(
Persian
:
???? ??????????????
; 23 April 1964 ? 19 May 2024) was an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as
foreign minister
of Iran from 2021 until
his death
in 2024.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He was the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs between 2011 and 2016.
[1]
Amir-Abdollahian was special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, Director General of International Affairs of the
Islamic Consultative Assembly
from the presidency of
Ali Larijani
to the presidency of
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
, Secretary-General of the
Permanent Secretariat
of the International Conference in Support of the
Palestinian Intifada
, managing director of Palestine Strategic Dialogue Quarterly.
[4]
[5]
[6]
He was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister during the ministry of
Ali Akbar Salehi
, which was retained in the first three years of
Mohammad Javad Zarif
's ministry. He was professor at the Foreign Ministry's School of International Relations.
[7]
Following the undeclared resignation of Zarif, various media sources speculated that Amir-Abdollahian was a potential candidate for the ministerial position, noting his close association with Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament at the time.
[8]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Amir-Abdollahian was born in 1964 in
Damghan
.
[9]
At the age of 6?7, he lost his father. He was married in 1994 and had a son and a daughter. Amir-Abdollahian had a bachelor's degree in Diplomatic Relations from the Faculty of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a master's degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of
Tehran University
, and a PhD in International Relations from
Tehran University
.
[8]
Affiliation
[
edit
]
Amir-Abdollahian supported the Resistance Front, which is affiliated with
Hezbollah
in Lebanon, Syria, and other currents
[
clarification needed
]
aligned with the Islamic Republic of Iran that are in conflict with Israel.
[10]
He was a member of the Political and Security Committee of the Nuclear Negotiations during the nuclear talks during the presidency of
Mohammad Khatami
. He was the first Iranian official to be invited to London for regional talks after the reopening of the London embassy in
Tehran
during
Hassan Rouhani
's first term, and to meet with then-
British Foreign
Secretary
Philip Hammond
. He detailed regional talks with
Federica Mogherini
on his file, and had detailed meetings with
UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
and Hezbollah-Lebanon Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah
.
[11]
Negotiation with the United States
[
edit
]
He was the head of the Iranian negotiating team at the Iran-Iraq-US trilateral meeting in
Baghdad
in 2007. The meeting was held to secure Iraq at the request of the Americans, who called the situation in Iraq dangerous. The talks failed after three sessions without result. Amir-Abdollahian later said of the talks that the Americans left the scene when they heard a logical word and did not have a logical answer.
[
citation needed
]
He further elaborated about the beginning of the US negotiations that the US thought that they should set the agenda, but the Islamic Republic did not allow them to do so, and it was decided that the agenda should be set by agreement of the parties.
[12]
[13]
Communication with Qasem Soleimani
[
edit
]
He had a close relationship with
Qasem Soleimani
, and this was due to two decades of responsibility in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially in the Arab and African positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran. When Soleimani became commander of the
Quds Force
, Amir-Abdollahian was an Iraqi expert at the Foreign Ministry. During the
US invasion of Iraq in 2003
, with the overthrow of Saddam, he came to be in charge of Iraq at the State Department.
Amir-Abdollahian later during a meeting with European delegations and officials said that they should thank the Islamic Republic and Soleimani because Soleimani had contributed to world peace and security. He believed that without Soleimani, the major countries in the region would have disintegrated.
[14]
Career
[
edit
]
Amir-Abdollahian was visiting professor at the Faculty of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[15]
[16]
Foreign Minister (2021?2024)
[
edit
]
Since 2021,
Iraq
has hosted five rounds of direct
talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran
, which cut diplomatic ties in 2016. The 6th round of talks on a ministerial level stalled, but after a meeting in
Amman
,
Jordan
, in December 2022, Abdollahian and Saudi Foreign Minister
Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
signaled that both countries would be "open to more dialogue".
[17]
In January 2023, Faisal speaking at a panel at the
World Economic Forum
in
Davos
reiterated that "Riyadh is trying to find a dialog with Iran".
[18]
The two countries announced the resumption of relations on 10 March 2023, following a deal brokered by China.
[19]
It could lead the way to easing of the
Iran?Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
, thus bringing stability to Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain.
[20]
Amir-Abdollahian met with the Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi in July 2023. They discussed joint work on infrastructure projects.
[21]
During a meeting with UN diplomat
Tor Wennesland
on 14 October 2023, Abdollahian warned that Iran could intervene in the
Israel?Hamas war
if Israel launched a
ground invasion of Gaza
.
[22]
On 15 October 2023, Abdollahian met with
Hamas
leader
Ismail Haniyeh
in
Doha
, Qatar.
[23]
-
Abdollahian and
Saudi
Foreign Minister
Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
after signing a joint statement on the restoration of diplomatic relations, with Chinese Foreign Minister
Qin Gang
in the background, 6 April 2023
-
Abdollahian with Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida
in Tokyo, Japan, 7 August 2023
Personal life
[
edit
]
Amir-Abdollahian was married and had two children.
[24]
Death
[
edit
]
On 19 May 2024, a helicopter carrying Amir-Abdollahian and President
Ebrahim Raisi
crashed
near the town of
Varzeqan
on the
Azerbaijan?Iran border
;
[25]
both were found dead at the crash site.
[26]
The crash was caused by bad weather conditions in the
East Azerbaijan province
of
Iran
.
[27]
[28]
[29]
Following a joint funeral ceremony with other victims of the crash in Tehran, he was buried at the
Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine
in
Ray
on 23 May.
[30]
[31]
Research works
[
edit
]
Amir-Abdollahian wrote
Levant's Morning
(
??? ???
), a narrative of the Syrian crisis.
The Inefficiency of the Greater Middle East Plan
(
????????? ??? ????????? ????
) ? "what is the cause of the inefficiency of the Greater Middle East Plan and its relation to the rise of the Islamic Awakening?",
Conflicting US Democracy in the New Iraq
(
???????? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ???? ????
) and
Dual Containment
(
???????? ???? ??????
) ? explaining the strategy of containment of Iraq and Iran.
[16]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Deputy for Arab-African Affairs"
. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Archived
from the original on 30 August 2021
. Retrieved
22 July
2015
.
- ^
"
'No survivors' found at crash site involving President Ebrahim Raisi, says Iran | Fox News Video"
.
Fox News
. 20 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
20 May
2024
.
- ^
Sharifi, Kian.
"Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, The Iranian Foreign Minister Close To Revolutionary Guards, Dead At 60"
.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
.
Archived
from the original on 22 May 2024
. Retrieved
22 May
2024
.
- ^
"Amirabdollahian became the international director general of the parliament and Shaykh al-Islam became Zarif's advisor"
. 24 July 2016.
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2021
. Retrieved
10 August
2021
.
- ^
"Palestinian Strategic Discourse Quarterly"
. 8 October 2018.
Archived
from the original on 18 June 2022
. Retrieved
10 August
2021
.
- ^
"Unity is the secret behind the Resistance's victories"
. 28 May 2021.
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2021
. Retrieved
10 August
2021
.
- ^
"Introduction to the biography of Dr. Hossein Amirabdollahian"
.
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2014.
- ^
a
b
"Amir-Abdollahian: The Soft Face of Iran's Hard Power"
.
Middle East Institute
.
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2021
. Retrieved
10 August
2021
.
- ^
"Hacktivists Target Iran's Foreign Ministry, Leak Trove Of Data"
.
Iran International
. 7 May 2023.
Archived
from the original on 30 May 2023
. Retrieved
30 May
2023
.
- ^
"Why in Syria the word of the last option Is?"
. 13 September 2013.
Archived
from the original on 24 January 2021
. Retrieved
11 August
2021
.
- ^
Dagres, Holly (23 June 2021).
"What will Raisi's cabinet look like? Hardline and full of war vets"
.
Atlantic Council
.
Archived
from the original on 11 August 2021
. Retrieved
19 May
2024
.
- ^
"Gravitas: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian appointed as Iran's Foreign Minister"
.
WION
. 11 August 2021.
Archived
from the original on 14 August 2021
. Retrieved
12 August
2021
.
- ^
"The United States has asked Iran for help in overcoming the dangerous situation in Iraq"
. 6 August 2007.
Archived
from the original on 12 August 2021
. Retrieved
12 August
2021
.
- ^
"??????????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??????????????"
.
?????? ???? ?????? (jamaran.news)
(in Persian). 15 October 2023.
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2021
. Retrieved
12 August
2021
.
- ^
"Amirabdollahian became the international director-general of the parliament and Shaykh al-Islam became Zarif's advisor"
. 24 July 2016.
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2021
. Retrieved
10 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Biography of Dr. Hossein Amirabdollahian"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 August 2021
. Retrieved
14 August
2021
.
- ^
Motamedi, Maziar (21 December 2022).
"Saudi Arabia wants dialogue after Jordan meeting: Iran minister"
. Al Jazeera.
Archived
from the original on 9 May 2023
. Retrieved
11 July
2023
.
- ^
"Davos 2023: Saudi FM says Riyadh trying to find path to dialogue with Iran"
Archived
30 May 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
Reuters. 17 January 2023.
- ^
Gans, Jared (11 March 2023).
"Five things to know about the Iran-Saudi deal brokered by China"
.
The Hill
.
Archived
from the original on 21 May 2023
. Retrieved
11 July
2023
.
- ^
Bishara, Marwan (12 March 2023).
"The Saudi-Iran detente and its regional implications"
.
Al Jazeera
.
Archived
from the original on 23 May 2023
. Retrieved
14 March
2023
.
- ^
"Qatar's foreign minister travels to Iran for talks"
. 24 July 2023.
Archived
from the original on 27 October 2023
. Retrieved
25 July
2023
.
- ^
"Israel vs Hamas: Iran threatens to intervene if Israel doesn't stop attacking Gaza, says report"
.
WION
. 16 October 2023. Archived from
the original
on 17 October 2023.
- ^
"Iranian Foreign Minister meets with Palestinian Hamas' leader in Doha"
.
Reuters
. 15 October 2023.
Archived
from the original on 16 November 2023
. Retrieved
17 January
2024
.
- ^
"Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in a helicopter crash"
.
AP News
. 21 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
21 May
2024
.
- ^
"Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' state TV says without further details"
.
AP News
. 19 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 19 May 2024
. Retrieved
19 May
2024
.
- ^
"State media says Iranian president, foreign minister found dead at helicopter crash site"
.
Voice of America
.
Archived
from the original on 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
20 May
2024
.
- ^
"Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed dead in helicopter crash"
.
Al Jazeera
.
Archived
from the original on 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
20 May
2024
.
- ^
"Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in a helicopter crash"
.
Washington Post
. 20 May 2024.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
22 May
2024
.
- ^
Patil, Anushka (20 May 2024).
"Who Was Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian?"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
Archived
from the original on 22 May 2024
. Retrieved
22 May
2024
.
- ^
Gritten, David (23 May 2024).
"Iran buries late president at shrine in home city of Mashhad"
. BBC News.
Archived
from the original on 23 May 2024
. Retrieved
23 May
2024
.
- ^
"Thousands bid farewell to Iran's Raisi ahead of burial"
.
France 24
. 22 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 23 May 2024
. Retrieved
23 May
2024
.
External links
[
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]