ISTANBUL
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, noted for his conservative position, became Iran's foreign minister in August 2021, after Mohammad Javad Zarif, whom he had previously served as deputy for three years.
President Ebrahim Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian and their companions were declared dead after their helicopter crashed in northwestern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province on Sunday afternoon.
The former foreign minister was born in 1964 and graduated from Tehran University with a degree in international relations in 1991. Besides his native Persian language, he was also fluent in Arabic, and English. He served as ambassador to Bahrain during the tenure of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Amir-Abdollahian later served as the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs during the terms of both Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani.
Before becoming foreign minister, he held the position of Special Assistant for International Relations to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
During his tenure as foreign minister, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in March 2023 following seven years of tensions between the two countries.
