Iran's possible new foreign minister stirs up debate
Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, has presented his cabinet lineup to the Iranian parliament for approval.
Hardliners control most of Iran's institutions.
Raisi's cabinet lineup was expected to be affected by this.
Nevertheless, the president's
selection of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to be Iran's new foreign minister has
sparked controversy.
This boils down to Abdollahian's
reputation as an extremist.
Most of the criticism engendered by
the man's selection for the foreign affairs portfolio focused on the dire
consequences of this move on Iran's relations with the rest of the world.
Iran's nuclear file is at the center
of contention with the international community.
Filling the void
The foreign minister-designate has a
wide network of relations in the Arab region, especially with Iran's regional arms.
This indicates that his selection
for the foreign affairs portfolio may mainly aim to compensate for the void
left by Qassem Soleimani who was assassinated early last year 2020.
Soleimani's successor, Ismail Qaani,
seems also to have failed in filling in the void left behind by the late Quds
Force commander.
Abdollahian was the architect of
meetings between the Egyptian Brotherhood and Iranian officials in Tehran when
the Brotherhood was in power in Egypt.
Abdollahian is a special assistant for
international affairs of the Iranian parliament speaker.
He served previously as his country's
ambassador to Bahrain and was the deputy minister of foreign affairs for Arab
and African affairs between 2011 and 2016.
He also worked as the deputy head of
the Iranian diplomatic mission in Baghdad between 1997 and 2001.
Abdollahian has a PhD in
international relations from the University of Tehran. He specializes in the
Arab region.
He is known inside Iran as a
figurehead of the Revolutionary Guard Corpse in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
He served as assistant to the
Iranian foreign minister during the reign of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
