The Revolutionary Diplomat in Love with the Camera; Who Was Hossein Amirabdollahian?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ebrahim Raisi's government, who lost his life on Sunday, May 19, 1403, following a helicopter crash, was born 60 years ago in the same month, specifically on the third day, in the city of Damghan. He entered the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' faculty in the 1970s and continued his studies in political science and diplomatic relations, eventually joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic as one of its diplomats. Over recent decades, Hossein Amirabdollahian has held multiple responsibilities in the Foreign Ministry and Iranian embassies in various countries, particularly in the Middle East. His first foreign responsibility dates back to 1376, when, as noted on the Foreign Ministry's website, he was sent as an expert to the Islamic Republic's embassy in Baghdad. He returned to Tehran in 1381 and took on responsibilities in the Persian Gulf group within the Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs Department of the Foreign Ministry. During those years, Amirabdollahian held positions such as 'Head of the Special Staff for Iraq', 'Deputy Director General for the Persian Gulf', and 'Deputy Special Representative of the Foreign Minister for Iraq'. His first ambassadorial role came during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, when in 1386, at the age of 43, he was unexpectedly appointed as the representative of the Islamic Republic to Manama despite his limited international experience. He served as Iran's ambassador in Bahrain for three years and returned to Tehran in 1389. Upon his return, he was initially appointed as the Director General for the Persian Gulf and Middle East at the Foreign Ministry and received a significant promotion in 1390, becoming the Deputy for Arab and African Affairs in Ahmadinejad's government. Amirabdollahian's tenure in this position can be considered one of the most critical periods in the Middle East, marked by events known as the Arab Spring, the civil war in Syria, and disagreements between Tehran and Arab capitals, as well as the severing of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and several other countries in the region. Amirabdollahian has documented his experiences from those years in the Foreign Ministry in a book titled 'Morning of Evening, A Narrative of the Syrian Crisis'. He writes in his memoirs about the dismissal of Manouchehr Mottaki, the Foreign Minister of Ahmadinejad's government in 1389: 'Mr. Mottaki was dismissed by Mr. Ahmadinejad at an inappropriate time and during an official negotiation with high-ranking Senegalese officials while he was abroad, and Mr. Salehi took over the diplomatic apparatus. In the first few weeks after Mr. Salehi became Foreign Minister, unprecedented events known as the Islamic Awakening began in Tunisia and Egypt and quickly took the top spot in all world media.' The intensification of developments in the Middle East coincided with the increasing influence and power of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the region, particularly in Syria, where forces under the command of Qassem Soleimani, the then-commander of the Quds Force, played a significant role in the internal developments of that country. At the same time, many narratives about Amirabdollahian's close relations with Soleimani were published. Moreover, according to an unwritten rule in the Foreign Ministry, files related to the Middle East were more the responsibility of officers and commanders of the IRGC than of the diplomats of this organization. With the rise of Hassan Rouhani's government, while many expected the Arab-African Deputy position in the Foreign Ministry to change like other sections of the ministry, Mohammad Javad Zarif chose to retain Amirabdollahian in this position. This decision was interpreted by some at the time as Soleimani's share in the Foreign Ministry. Another significant event during Amirabdollahian's tenure as the Arab-African Deputy was the severing of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the events of December 12, 1394. Regarding that incident, Amirabdollahian writes in his memoirs: 'That night, I was in continuous contact with Brigadier General Zolfaqari, the Deputy for Security and Police of the Ministry of Interior, and Hossein Sadeghi, our then-ambassador in Riyadh, to manage the situation. That afternoon, at a meeting of the Foreign Ministry's Deputy Council chaired by Dr. Zarif, I emphasized the necessity of the matter and even requested through an official letter from the Foreign Ministry's Protocol Office that the diplomatic police fulfill their duties. Unfortunately, for a moment, control slipped from the police, and damages were inflicted on the embassy building in Tehran. However, none of the Saudi diplomats in Tehran and Mashhad were harmed, but Riyadh exhibited hasty and hostile behavior.' Although Amirabdollahian described Riyadh's decision to sever relations with Iran as hasty, the Saudi action came after a group of forces affiliated with the Islamic Republic attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, even setting parts of the building on fire. The 'camera-loving diplomat' is also mentioned in a leaked audio file of an interview between Javad Zarif and Saeed Leilaz, the former Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, where he describes the embassy attack as part of a series of efforts designed to prevent the implementation of the JCPOA by Russia. Zarif also emphasized that all those events, including the attack on the Saudi embassy, occurred after Qassem Soleimani's trip to Russia. Other actions during Amirabdollahian's time as the Arab Deputy included his participation in a series of meetings and negotiations held with regional countries and extra-regional powers for peace in Syria. The issue of Yemen was another matter in which Amirabdollahian played a role. One of the contentious issues between Iran and Saudi Arabia during those years was the war in Yemen, which overshadowed relations between Tehran and Riyadh. Zarif, in his leaked interview with Saeed Leilaz, mentions part of the negotiations between the parties regarding this issue: 'I wasn't discussing the region with Kerry, but this time Soleimani asked me to end the war in Yemen as soon as possible. In one of the rounds of negotiations in Lausanne, we had a detailed conversation, and once, while waiting at the airport for a trip to Indonesia, Kerry called me and said he had talked with Adel al-Jubeir (the then-Saudi ambassador in Washington) and they had managed to reach an agreement with the Saudis on a ceasefire in Yemen. I told him I would be traveling and gave him Amirabdollahian's number, saying if he contacted him, he would inform Mr. Soleimani, and Mr. Soleimani would tell the Yemenis, and we would arrange the ceasefire. I told Amirabdollahian, and he was so happy that, being fond of the camera, he went for an interview and said we would soon have a ceasefire in Yemen.' However, Amirabdollahian's happiness was short-lived, as Kerry never contacted him. Eventually, Amirabdollahian was dismissed from his position by Zarif's decision in Khordad 1395, a decision interpreted by Arab media as a positive signal for improving relations between Tehran and Arab capitals. At that time, the Al-Arabiya website, affiliated with Saudi Arabia, reported that the decision to dismiss Amirabdollahian was 'indicative of the Rouhani government's determination to cooperate with Arab countries.' This media outlet also described Amirabdollahian as 'a person close to the IRGC who had disagreements with Zarif and Rouhani on regional policies.' In contrast, the Mashregh News website, close to hardliners in the Islamic Republic, criticized Zarif and described Amirabdollahian as a complete example of 'a revolutionary diplomat' that the Islamic Republic needs more of. The newspaper Javan also criticized the Rouhani government at the time, stating that Amirabdollahian had played a key role in Iran's diplomacy in Syria. However, Amirabdollahian did not remain idle after his dismissal from the Foreign Ministry, and in Mordad 1395, he immediately began his new job as a special assistant to Ali Larijani, the then-Speaker of the Parliament, and Director General of International Affairs of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. After Larijani's term ended and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf took over the Parliament, Amirabdollahian continued his work in a new position as an advisor to the Speaker of the Parliament in Mordad 1399. However, Amirabdollahian's absence from the Foreign Ministry was not long, and with Ebrahim Raisi's victory in the 1400 elections, he returned to the ministry this time as Minister. During his tenure at the Foreign Ministry, his speeches in English and Arabic at international meetings received significant attention, and users on social media mocked him for his low proficiency in foreign languages while insisting on speaking in those languages. He also claimed in various interviews during the widespread protests in Iran that women in Iran enjoy freedom. He repeatedly stated that no one had been arrested by the police during those 'peaceful protests' and that security forces had not killed anyone by firing bullets. Hossein Amirabdollahian can be classified among the loyal managers of the Islamic Republic, whose decades-long record in various positions indicates that his loyalty has likely covered up his weaknesses. Despite the inefficiencies he has shown over the years, he remained in one of the most important government positions in the Islamic Republic until the last day of his life.