Former Iranian Banker Becomes U.S. Ambassador to Sweden

The U.S. Senate finally confirmed the nomination of Azita Raji, a former Iranian banker, as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden on Friday. Raji was introduced by Barack Obama a year ago, along with five other nominees for ambassadorial positions in U.S. embassies and international organizations, but the confirmation process was stalled due to opposition from Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate. Senator Cruz ultimately withdrew his opposition on Friday. Born in Tehran and having spent her early years in Iran, Raji is a graduate of Lausanne, Switzerland, and moved to the U.S. at the age of 17. According to the White House, she is a strategic commerce expert with international and executive experience in finance and global markets, having served on the boards of several banks and financial institutions. The new U.S. ambassador to Sweden holds a bachelor's degree in architecture and French from Barnard College at Columbia University, and a master's degree in finance from the same university. She was an active participant in Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, and was also involved in the Democratic National Committee in 2008. Raji is fluent in English, Persian, and French, and is set to begin her work at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm within the next six months. She is the first female U.S. ambassador to Sweden and the first Iranian-American to hold such a position. Raji will succeed Mark Brzezinski, son of former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. She currently lives in Northern California with her husband and has five children and six grandchildren. Despite the confirmation of Azita Raji and five other U.S. ambassadors and representatives, several other high-profile nominees are still awaiting final approval from the Senate, including the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Adam Zubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. Among the opponents of the proposed nominee for the FDA Commissioner position is Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have repeatedly criticized Republicans for holding up the nominees put forward by the administration to undermine Barack Obama's agenda in the final year of his presidency. Senator Ted Cruz's obstruction of the confirmation of State Department nominees is part of his opposition to the historic agreement between Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., aimed at resolving Tehran's nuclear program, which was reached in July this year in Vienna. Phil Novak, a spokesperson for Cruz, announced on Friday that the senator withdrew his opposition after the Senate approved his proposed bill to name the square in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington as 'Liu Xiaobo Square.' Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is imprisoned for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government. Novak added that Senator Cruz will continue his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.