Newly-sworn in Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi named anti-Western diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as the republic's new foreign minister Wednesday as Iran and six world powers seek to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
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A former ambassador to Bahrain, Amirabdollahian was Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs between 2011 and 2016. He was deputy chief of mission at Iran's embassy in Baghdad from 1997 to 2001.
Amirabdollahian is believed to have close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group and other Iranian proxies around the Middle East.
"Amirabdollahian is a hardline diplomat... If the foreign ministry remains in charge of Iran's nuclear dossier, then obviously Tehran will adopt a much tougher line in the nuclear talks," said an Iranian nuclear negotiator who wished to remain anonymous.
Raisi also named Javad Owji, former deputy oil minister and managing director of the state-run gas company, as oil minister.
Iran's hardliner-dominated parliament is not expected to challenge Raisi's picks for sensitive ministries such as foreign affairs and oil, as presidents only select them with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The power of the Iranian president is limited by that of the supreme leader, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appoints the head of the judiciary and decides major policies of the Islamic republic.
Raisi, a hardliner under Western sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses when he was a judge, was sworn into office on Aug. 5 with Iran's clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad.
The mid-ranking Shiite cleric replaced pragmatist Hassan Rouhani as president after an election in June when most prominent rivals – including moderates and reformists – were barred from running in the elections.
Iran and world powers have been negotiating since April to revive the nuclear pact that former US President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018, and imposed sanctions that have devastated Tehran's economy.
A sixth round of the talks was held on June 20, with Iranian and Western officials saying significant gaps remained to be resolved in returning Tehran and Washington to full compliance with the pact. Iran has been violating limits on its enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, since 2019.
Parties involved in the talks have yet to set a date for the next round of negotiations.
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