Ali Akbar Velayati

Ali Akbar Velayati, born on June twenty-fourth, nineteen forty-five, is a prominent Iranian physician and principlist politician. He currently serves as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and holds the esteemed position of a distinguished professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. In addition, he acts as a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader on international affairs and leads the board of founders and trustees of the Islamic Azad University.

Throughout his illustrious career, Velayati has made significant contributions to various academic and political institutions. He is a member of the Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Fame and serves as the President of the Center for Strategic Research within the Expediency Discernment Council. His expertise is further recognized as a senior fellow of the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences, and he has previously been a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Velayati's political career is marked by his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a role he held for over fifteen years from December nineteen eighty-one to August nineteen ninety-seven. This period saw him serve under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Presidents Ali Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, making him the first and only individual to occupy this position for more than a decade.

In the political arena, he was a candidate in the two thousand thirteen presidential election, where he garnered two million two hundred sixty-eight thousand seven hundred fifty-three votes, accounting for six point eighteen percent of the total votes, ultimately finishing fifth among six candidates. Velayati also holds the title of secretary-general of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening, further solidifying his influence in both national and international spheres.