Interim Head of the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry; A Staunch Critic of the JCPOA Who Became the Chief Negotiator for Its Revival

Following the crash of the helicopter carrying the President and the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, which resulted in their deaths, Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed as the interim head of the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, May 21. Bagheri Kani is considered a close associate of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and a trusted diplomat, having been a member of the nuclear negotiation team for many years. Born in October 1967 in Tehran, he graduated in Islamic Studies and Economics from Imam Sadiq University. His father was a member of the Assembly of Experts, and his brother is married to Ali Khamenei. Before the death of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday, Bagheri Kani served as his political deputy. Previously, he was associated with Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and worked in the international department of this body. From 2007 to 2013, he was part of Iran's nuclear negotiation team during the JCPOA talks. Bagheri Kani, who was the head of Jalili's presidential campaign in 2013, left the diplomatic apparatus with the start of Hassan Rouhani's government and became a critic of the nuclear agreement reached on July 14, 2015 (the JCPOA) with major world powers. In 2019, he was appointed by Ebrahim Raisi, then head of the judiciary, as the Deputy for International Affairs and Head of the Human Rights Headquarters, serving in this role until the beginning of the thirteenth government in 2021, when Amir-Abdollahian replaced Mohammad Javad Zarif as Foreign Minister, and Bagheri Kani replaced Abbas Araghchi. As soon as he became the political deputy of the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry, his critical stance towards the JCPOA changed, and he became the head of Iran's nuclear negotiation team with world powers to revive the very agreement he once vehemently opposed. Now, with the death of the Foreign Minister, this 56-year-old diplomat will lead the Islamic Republic's diplomatic apparatus until a successor for Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is appointed; perhaps he himself will be chosen as the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ahmad Vakhshiteh: Amir-Abdollahian's death will not change the government's foreign policy; his outlook was towards Russia. Blog | UN Fact-Finding Committee: Raisi's death should not lead to forgetting human rights violations in Iran. Head of the Alliance Against a Nuclear Iran: Raisi's death could accelerate change in Iran. U.S. reaction to Raisi's death: We will continue to support the people of Iran and counter the actions of the Islamic Republic. European lawmakers criticize EU officials' reaction to Raisi's death: Do not express solidarity with the perpetrators of the repression of Iranians.