Iran’s deputy foreign minister and nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed this Monday as head of Iranian diplomacy after the death of Hosein Amir Abdolahian in a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous area in the northwest of the country.
“By order of the first vice president, Mohammad Mojber, Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed interim foreign minister“, announced government spokesman Ali Bahadari Jahormi, according to the agency. IRNA.
The spokesperson indicated that the diplomat will serve as minister until the presidential elections are held in the country.
According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a council consisting of the president of the judiciary, the president of Parliament and the first vice president – who becomes acting president – is obliged to adopt an agreement so that a new president is elected within a maximum period of 50 days.
Shortly before, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khameiniapproved the appointment of Mojber as acting president.
Bagheri Kani, 56 years old, until now held the position of deputy foreign minister and was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. He has extensive experience in the Iranian nuclear field, an issue that has generated tensions between Tehran, the main powers and its archenemy Israel.
The diplomat, critical of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 by the previous administration of Hassan Rouhani with the great powers, was chosen by the late Raisi as chief negotiator in 2021 to try to save the pact, and lift the sanctions imposed by the United States.
The former president’s administration donald trump In 2018, it abandoned the nuclear agreement that limited the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
Since then, Iran has increased uranium production highly enriched with a purity of up to 60%, which is close to being able to be used for the manufacture of an atomic bomb, while at the same time it has limited international inspections.
Bagheri Kani emerged as one of the main critics of the deal, accusing his administration of caving in to the West and violating “red lines” established by Khamenei by imposing restrictions and strict surveillance on Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful.
Considered of “hard wing” of the Iranian regime, He was also a nuclear negotiator during the former president’s term. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2007 and 2013.
Ali Bagheri Kani is a veteran Iranian nuclear negotiator and staunch critic of the West, linked to Iran’s ultra-conservative sectors. Close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s inner circle, he is the brother-in-law of Khamenei’s brother. With his signature soft-spoken style, Bagheri-Kani has been noted for his firm stance in negotiations.
“Every time foreigners intervene, under any pretext… their presence interferes with the security and stability of the region”Bagheri-Kani has stated in the past.
Following the US withdrawal and reimposition of sanctions in 2018, Bagheri-Kani accused Rouhani of giving the impression that Iran was weak vis-à-vis the West. He later vehemently defended efforts to revive the nuclear deal, stating that opponents of these efforts sought to deprive the Islamic Republic of a key tool to guarantee its national interests, according to Alarabiya News.
Born in 1967 in the village of Kan, northwest of Tehran, Bagheri-Kani He comes from a family deeply involved in the politics of the Islamic Republic. His father was a prominent Shiite cleric and member of the Assembly of Experts, responsible for selecting the supreme leader. His uncle, Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, came to head the organization.
Bagheri Kani began his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1990s and aligned himself with the conservative figure Saeed Jalili. When Jalili became secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Bagheri Kani was his deputy.
After finishing his mission in the Council, he joined the judiciary under Raisi, serving as secretary of the human rights council and later as international affairs assistant.
Weeks after Raisi assumed the presidency in 2021, Bagheri Kani was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs and Chief Nuclear Negotiator.
(With information from EFE)
