Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

Kamal Kharazi (, born 1 December 1944) is an Iranian

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

politician and diplomat who served as the

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of Iran from 20 August 1997 to 24 August 2005. He was replaced by

Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki (; born 12 May 1953) is an Iranian politician and diplomat who currently is a member of the Parliament of Iran representing Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat, Eslamshahr and Pardis since 2024. He was the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affai ...

who was appointed by the next President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

. He is currently member of the

Expediency Discernment Council The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( ''Majma'-e Tašxis-e Maslahat-e Nezâm'') is an administrative assembly of Iran appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution of ...

and advisor to Iran’s supreme leader

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

. He is the chairman of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations. He also founded Institute for Cognitive Science Studies along with other prominent Iranian psychologists in 2016.

Early life and education

Kharazi was born in Tehran in 1944. He got his Bachelor degree in Arabic language and literature, and after receiving his master's degree in education at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

, he spent a year (1975–1976) as teaching fellow at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, where he received a PhD in

industrial psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...

Career

Kharazi has been a Professor of Management and Educational Psychology at Tehran University since 1983. Kharazi was a founding member of the

Islamic Research Institute The Islamic Research Institute (IRI) was formerly a research division of the Government of Pakistan. It was founded in 1960 as a result of a constitutional requirement. In 1980, it became the research institute of the then newly founded Internati ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Kharazi has held a number of governmental, diplomatic and academic posts and headed Iranian delegations at numerous international conferences, most importantly at the

Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...

held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 1992. For several years Kharazi presented the official Iranian position on TV and at university campuses in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and has written extensively on foreign policy issues. He had extensive experience in guiding the media during the early days of Iran's

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. From July 1980 to September 1989, he was the President of the

Islamic Republic News Agency The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; , ''Xabargozâri-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi'' or ), is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded in November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of Reza Shah, it is government-fu ...

. On 18 September 1980, the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

broke out, and Kharazi served as a member of the Supreme Defense Council of Iran and headed the War Information Headquarters and served as a military spokesman for most of the war (from September 1980 to September 1988). During the first months after the Iranian Revolution, Kharazi served as the Vice-President of Iranian National Television (March to August 1979) for the new Islamic state. He then served as the Vice-Minister for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (from August 1979 to March 1980) and as the Managing Director of the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (from August 1979 to July 1981). Previously, he represented Iran at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

from 1989 to 1997. In 2006, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei created the Foreign Relations Steering Council and appointed Kharazi as Chairman. In 2015, Kharazi was condemned for questioning Bahrain’s Arab identity, statements which were considered disrespectful by members of Bahrain’s Council of Representatives and Foreign Affairs Committee, who stated his remarks were a violation of international law. In May 2023, Kharazi was the opening speaker at an Iranian-Arab dialogue conference in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Family

Kharazi is married with two children. His nephew, Sadegh Kharazi, is Iran's

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Paris and played a key role in developing the so-called roadmap or ' Swiss memo'.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kharazi, Kamal 1944 births Living people Politicians from Tehran Ministers of foreign affairs of Iran Permanent representatives of Iran to the United Nations University of Tehran alumni University of Houston alumni 20th-century Iranian politicians 21st-century Iranian politicians

Early life and education

Career

Family

See also

References