Foreign Minister
Robin Wright When Mohammed Javad Zarif left the United Nations in 2007, I asked what he had achieved in five years as Tehran's ambassador. "Not much," he said with a sigh. "A stupid idealist who has not achieved anything in his diplomatic life after giving one-sided concessions--this is…
On August 30, Iran's new foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif posted an essay on his personal Facebook page strongly condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. But he also challenged the international response -- and hypocrisy -- in light of the world's lack of action in the 1980s when…
In unusual coverage of a diplomatic visit, the Iranian press issued several pictures of new Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcoming U.N. Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, who is also a former senior U.S. official. As Assistant Secretary of State for…
The following article by Robin Wright was originally published by The Washington Post as Iran’s next foreign minister, Javad Zarif, left the United Nations in 2007. Zarif served as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2002 to 2007. Diplomatic ExitFor Iran's Javad Zarif, a…
Garrett Nada Iran has consistently supported President Bashar Assad since the uprising erupted in March 2011. Yet Iran’s tone on the Syrian crisis has noticeably evolved. Tehran initially subscribed to the official Syrian narrative; it described the protests as insignificant and orchestrated by…
Mehrzad Boroujerdi The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is better noted for its dense, jargon-filled technical reports than for grooming future political personalities. Yet former IAEA officials have recently catapulted into the political spotlight of two pivotal countries in the…