In the hours following the confirmation of the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the name of his assistant, Ali Baqeri Kani, resurfaced. Baqeri played a significant role over two years ago during negotiations to revive the Iranian nuclear deal with the West. Many observers indicated that the late Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Baqeri Kani, who was one of the Iranian negotiators on the nuclear file, was among the leading candidates to succeed Amir-Abdollahian.
The Iranian government officially announced later today, Monday, the appointment of Baqeri Kani as the replacement for Amir-Abdollahian in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 57-year-old diplomat (born October 1967) has served as the political deputy in the ministry since September 2021. He previously held the position of Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran from 2007 to 2013. He also led the presidential campaign for Saeed Jalili in the 2013 presidential elections. He is the son of Mohammad Baqer Baqeri, a former member of the Assembly of Experts, and the nephew of Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani. Additionally, he worked as the chief negotiator in the mediation between Iran and the United States to complete a prisoner release deal.
