Resistance Diplomat or Iran’s Foreign Minister
Resistance Diplomat or Iran’s Foreign Minister: Amir-Abdollahian began his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an expert and deputy ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Baghdad after graduating in international relations from the University of Tehran in 1997. Over 20 years of service until 2016, he gradually climbed the management ranks. In 2011, during Ali Akbar Salehi’s tenure, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister for Arab and African Affairs.
After the 2013 elections and the formation of the eleventh government, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the then Foreign Minister, retained Amir-Abdollahian in the same position. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister until 2016, after which he moved to the Islamic Consultative Assembly and became the Director General of International Affairs.
In 2021, with the formation of the thirteenth government, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was introduced to the Islamic Consultative Assembly as the candidate for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the elected President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi. On August 25, 2021, he was elected as the new Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran with overwhelming support from the representatives, opposed by only 6 members.
During his service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amir-Abdollahian served in various regional posts.
In 2007, he was appointed as the head of the Special Iraq Task Force in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During Hassan Kazemi Qomi’s ambassadorship in Baghdad, at the peak of internal conflicts in Iraq following the US occupation, he led Iran’s negotiating team in the third round of trilateral talks between Iran, Iraq, and the US. Following this responsibility, he took on his first embassy role and was sent as Iran’s ambassador to Bahrain.
Change in Diplomatic Language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In 2021, when Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was chosen as the Foreign Minister, the diplomatic language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed in line with the new government’s policies.
Amir-Abdollahian’s first foreign trip after assuming office was immediately after receiving a vote of confidence from the Islamic Consultative Assembly. He traveled to Iraq to participate in the Baghdad Cooperation and Partnership Conference, attended by several Arab leaders and the French President.
Amir-Abdollahian’s presence at this conference was controversial because, during a group photo, he moved from his designated spot in the second row with other foreign ministers to the front row, standing among the heads of state and leaders. In an interview with IRIB, he stated that he stood where the real position of Iran and its representative was.
After his appointment, Amir-Abdollahian selected Ali Bagheri as the political deputy and chief negotiator for Iran in the JCPOA revival talks.
The appointment of Ali Bagheri, known as a serious critic and opponent of the JCPOA, as the negotiator for reviving the agreement faced criticism.
During Amir-Abdollahian’s tenure, the title of Iran’s negotiations with the remaining JCPOA parties changed from JCPOA revival talks to sanctions removal negotiations. However, during his tenure, these negotiations did not achieve the desired outcome, and neither the JCPOA was revived nor the sanctions lifted.
Meanwhile, the primary focus of the thirteenth government’s foreign policy during Amir-Abdollahian’s ministry shifted to neighborhood policy and developing relations with neighboring countries.
One of the most significant events during Amir-Abdollahian’s ministry was the reconciliation agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia after seven years of complete diplomatic severance, achieved with China’s mediation in Beijing. This agreement was signed by Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, Saudi Arabia’s National Security Advisor, and Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. After the agreement’s signing, Amir-Abdollahian repeatedly met and talked with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, and hosted him in Tehran.
During Amir-Abdollahian’s ministry, the process of reopening Iran’s embassy in Saudi Arabia and the establishment of Saudi diplomats in Iran was swiftly pursued and implemented. The resumption of Saudi-Iranian relations initiated significant regional changes, prompting some other countries, including Bahrain, to begin normalizing their relations with Iran.
In this context, relations with the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait improved, and the process of Syria’s return to the Arab League and normalization of Syria’s relations with Arab countries was also accelerated.
Amir-Abdollahian’s next project was an attempt to normalize relations with Egypt after decades of severed ties, which was not achieved during his tenure. Strengthening the eastward and Asian outlook was another policy pursued during his less than three-year ministry.
Implementing the comprehensive 26-year strategic cooperation document with China, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, strengthening relations with Russia, and efforts to sign a new long-term treaty with Russia, joining the BRICS group alongside China, Russia, and India, and efforts to sign a free trade agreement with the member countries of the Eurasian Customs Union were among the actions pursued during Amir-Abdollahian’s ministry.
After the October 7, 2023 incident and the start of the Gaza war, Amir-Abdollahian made several regional trips and pursued extensive negotiations with regional leaders.
Efforts to clarify Iran’s stance on Palestine, pursuing a ceasefire and preventing the massacre of Gaza’s citizens, and exchanging messages and diplomatic efforts before and after Iran’s response to Israel’s attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus were among the activities seriously pursued by Amir-Abdollahian during the seven-month Gaza war.
Resistance Diplomat
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was known as a diplomat with close ties to the resistance axis due to his close relationship with Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah. In an interview with IRIB’s Handwriting program, he mentioned his first meeting with Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah in 2010.
Regarding his meetings with Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, he stated that his first direct meeting with him was in 2010, and since then, he has seen him approximately every few months, with their meetings averaging between 3.5 to 6 hours.
Before being chosen as Foreign Minister, perhaps one of the most significant controversies related to Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was his removal from the position of Deputy Minister for Arab and African Affairs during the eleventh government under Mohammad Javad Zarif’s ministry. At that time, the appointment of Hossein Jaberi Ansari as Amir-Abdollahian’s successor in the position faced harsh criticism from conservative media.
Some conservative media interpreted Amir-Abdollahian’s removal as a weakening of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s relations with the resistance axis.
In a report titled ‘Removal of the Resistance Diplomat,’ the Vatan-e-Emrooz newspaper wrote that Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a strange and noteworthy move, dismissed Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Deputy Minister for Arab and African Affairs and an experienced and proficient diplomat in the region.
Amir-Abdollahian, due to his mastery and understanding of regional developments in recent years, had managed to organize diplomatic consultations in the region in favor of the resistance movement as a special figure of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His performance in the Iraq dossier and especially his actions in Bahrain and the Persian Gulf led to his recognition as a regional specialist in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the other hand, in the region, Amir-Abdollahian was known as a diplomat of the resistance movement, particularly in recent years, and during regional developments, the Saudi coalition’s efforts could not overshadow this resistance diplomat’s plans in the region.
Although Amir-Abdollahian was appointed as an advisor to the minister by Zarif after his removal from the deputy position and was reportedly set to become the new ambassador to Muscat, the capital of Oman, he decided to forgo this ambassadorship. After some time, he became the special assistant to the Speaker of the Parliament, Director General of International Affairs of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada.
Amir-Abdollahian’s Diplomatic Achievements
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assumed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during a period when, due to the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA and the return of US sanctions, the country faced numerous challenges in foreign policy. During this time, the thirteenth government pursued joining some international institutions, for which groundwork had been laid in the previous administration. Diplomatic achievements of this period included Iran’s official accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS group.
Simultaneously with Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian considered this membership a significant step in pursuing a comprehensive foreign policy, strengthening neighborhood policy, and looking towards Asia. He also emphasized that the BRICS group, as a multifaceted structure, has a strong desire for independent and effective global engagement, making it a desirable target for our country in pursuing multilateralism alongside other important coalitions and structures like Shanghai, Eurasia, CICA, ASEAN in foreign policy and international relations.
Amir-Abdollahian’s Foreign Policy Failures
Perhaps the greatest failure of Amir-Abdollahian’s three-year tenure was the inability of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy apparatus to achieve the goal of lifting the oppressive US sanctions. With the prolongation of negotiations that Ali Bagheri, the political deputy of the Foreign Minister, had started on November 29, 2021, for the US return to the JCPOA, these talks nearly reached an impasse in March 2022. Although several attempts were made to resume negotiations afterward, and even a new draft for the US return to the JCPOA was proposed in September 2022, these talks were completely halted with the protests in autumn 2022 in Iran, significantly diminishing hopes for the US return to the JCPOA and lifting sanctions.
During this period, some European countries adopted harsh stances towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Iranian diplomatic apparatus could not prevent the increasing strain in relations between Iran and European countries following the 2022 protests. These events, along with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accusations against Tehran of sending weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, led to a gradual deterioration of Iran’s relations with European powers.
