Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli (, born in 1953 in Ahvaz) is an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

politician,

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, economist and academic. He was the Secretary General of the

Gas Exporting Countries Forum The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an intergovernmental organization currently comprising 19 Member Countries of the world's leading natural gas producers: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia ...

from 2014 until 2018. He is the founder of Ravand Institute. He was the chairman of Iran's first Investment Bank Amin Investment Bank until 2011. In May 2014, he received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

from the

Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

, the highest Order given to any Iranian National for his important role in the Iran–Japan relations.

Personal life and education

Hossein Adeli is one of the few Iranian politicians to have an international background, having studied Business Administration at Tehran Business School, he continued his Masters in International Economics at

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 ...

before earning his

Doctor of Business Administration The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is a terminal degree in business administration. The DBA is classified as a research doctorate or professional doctorate depending on the granting university and country where the degree was awarded. ...

California Coast University California Coast University (CCU) is a private for-profit online university based in Santa Ana, California. It is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission and approved by the State of California. It enrolls approximately 8,000 ...

. He attended his Ph.D. courses in

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

and

New School University The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

. He obtained his second Ph.D. in Economics from

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia is a Public university, public and research university located in Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British R ...

Political and academic career

Adeli was educated in Dar ul-Funun (Persian: دار الفنون) in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Beginning his career teaching at various universities in

, at age of 27 he became the Director General of the Economic Affairs Department in Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Five years later, he became special advisor to the Foreign Ministry. In the following year, he acted as advisor to the Minister of Petroleum. Adeli went on to represent Iran at various

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

meetings. Adeli is one of the only dignitaries of the Islamic Republic to have actively participated to the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

activities.

Diplomatic career

Adeli’s diplomatic career began with his appointment as Iran’s Ambassador to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

between 1986 and 1989, during which he played a key role in revitalising Iranian and Japanese business/political relations. While he was in office,

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

, the 124th Emperor of Japan who ruled for over 60 years died on January 7, 1989, and his imperial funeral was held on the next month. On February 24, Adeli and his wife attended the Rites of Imperial Funeral with

Mostafa Mir-Salim Sayyid Mostafa Agha Mirsalim (Persian: سید مصطفی میرسلیم) (born 10 June 1947) is an Iranian engineer and conservative politician. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council. He was formerly a member of Islamic C ...

, Vice President and

Hossein Saffar Harandi Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi (born 29 September 1953) is an Iranian politician who was minister of culture and Islamic guidance of Iran from 21 August 2005 until 23 July 2009 when he resigned after opposing the appointment of Esfandiar Rahim ...

, a Member of Parliament and the Chairman of Parliament Committee on Agriculture. Soon thereafter, at the age of 36 he was appointed Governor of Central Bank of Iran. Adeli is credited a pioneer of the economic reform package during the critical years of reconstruction following the Iraq-Iran War. Adeli’s diplomatic career progressed through his appointment as Iranian Ambassador to Canada in 1995. At the end of his term in 1999, Adeli was nominated as Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs and the chairman of the Coordinating Council for Foreign Economic Relations until 2004. During these years, Adeli initiated two special committees for

Reconstruction of Afghanistan Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

and

Reconstruction of Iraq Investment in post-2003 Iraq refers to international efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq since the Iraq War in 2003. Along with the economic reform of Iraq, international projects have been implemented to repair and upgrade Iraqi w ...

through a series of multilateral arrangements, and filled the role of secretary general for both committees. As his last official post, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary of Iran to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. At his time, he along with John Curtis and several others lobbied with Iranian Government to borrow 80 items for a new exhibition named "The Forgotten Empire".

Career in Energy

Having served in the Ministry of Oil as international advisor. He has been the advocate and chief negotiator of many energy plans and projects, including the following: * Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline; where he served as the co-chair of the joint commission of Iran, Pakistan and India. * Iran-Armenia Gas pipeline; headed the gas diplomacy for this project * Iran-EU energy cooperation; for which he negotiated for establishment of Iran-EU energy center in Iran, and headed the team to engage with Nabucco project to export gas to EU. * Iran Gas cooperation with southern neighbors; where he led the talks with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for development of Arash field in the Persian Gulf and the export of gas to KSA * Iran-CIS gas and Oil cooperation; gas cooperation with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Awards and recognition

Adeli has also been active in regional and international groups and organisations, including the D-8, the G15, the

Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative (IORI) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of 23 states bordering the Indi ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. He has received many awards including a distinction by the

Economic Cooperation Organization The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is a Eurasian political and economic intergovernmental organization that was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve ...

Secretary General for "Special Recognition and Appreciation" for his contribution and proposition of the name ECO. He also won the Crans-Montana Development and Peace Award in 2002 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Adeli has also received special recognition for various activities including: spearheading monetary reforms as Central Bank Governor; innovation of a new

Islamic banking Islamic banking, Islamic finance ( ''masrifiyya 'islamia''), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Some ...

financial instrument called "Participation Paper", now widely used in Iran and other Islamic countries under the name of

Sukuk Sukuk (; plural of ) is the Arabic name for financial certificates, also commonly referred to as "sharia compliant" bonds. Sukuk are defined by the AAOIFI ( Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) as "securitie ...

; initiating the law for Official Development Assistance of Iran which aims to contribute to the development of least developing countries; initiating Economic Diplomacy for the first time in Iran; initiating Economic partnership with

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

through Iran–Africa economic summit; being head of Coordination for assistance to Iraqi reconstruction, and Coordination for assisting Afghanistan reconstruction through international organization. He has been a frequent guest speaker at many international conferences, including

, South-South Cooperation,

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 ...

Islamic Banking and Finance Islamic banking, Islamic finance ( ''masrifiyya 'islamia''), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or Finance, financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economi ...

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

International Trade Centre The International Trade Centre (ITC) () is a multilateral agency which has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The headqua ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

as well as major

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

s such as

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

Creation of Ravand Institute

After leaving the government, Adeli founded the Ravand Institute for Economic and International Studies, Iran’s first private non-governmental, non-partisan research centre (think-thank). He is the founder of Ravand Institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeli, Seyed Mohammad Hossein 1953 births Living people People from Ahvaz 21st-century Iranian diplomats 20th-century Iranian economists Ambassadors of Iran to Japan Ambassadors of Iran to Canada Ambassadors of Iran to the United Kingdom Executives of Construction Party politicians Governors of the Central Bank of Iran University of Tehran alumni California Coast University alumni Stony Brook University alumni The New School alumni Jamia Millia Islamia alumni 21st-century Iranian economists 20th-century Iranian diplomats