Mohammad Javad Zarif

Mohammad Javad Zarif
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 August 2013
President	Hassan Rouhani
Preceded by	Ali Akbar Salehi
Chief Negotiator of Iran for Nuclear Issue
In office 6 September 2013 – 14 July 2015
President	Hassan Rouhani
Deputy	Abbas Araghchi
Preceded by	Saeed Jalili
Succeeded by	Abbas Araghchi (as head of JCPOA follow-up commission)
Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations
In office 5 August 2002 – 25 July 2007
President	Mohammad Khatami Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Preceded by	Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian
Succeeded by	Mohammad Khazaee
Personal details
Born	(1960-01-07) 7 January 1960 (age 57) Tehran, Iran
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Maryam Imanieh (m. 1979)
Children	2 (1 daughter & 1 son)
Religion	Islam
Awards	see below
Signature
Website	Government site
Academic background and work
Fields	International law International relations International studies
Alma mater	San Francisco State University (B.A.), (M.A.) Columbia University (dropped out) University of Denver (M.A.), (Ph.D.)
Thesis	Self-Defense in International Law and Policy (1988)
Institutions	School of International Relations University of Tehran Islamic Azad University

Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari (Persian: محمد جواد ظریف خونساری‎‎; Persian pronunciation: [mohæmːæd͡ʒːæˌvɒːde zæˌɾiːfe xɒnsɒːˈɾi]; born 7 January 1960) is an Iranian career diplomat, academic and current Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has held various significant diplomatic and cabinet posts since the 1990s. Zarif is also a visiting professor at the School of International Relations and University of Tehran, teaching diplomacy and international organizations. He was the Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations from 2002 to 2007.

During his tenure as foreign minister, he led the Iranian negotiation with P5+1 countries which produced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on 14 July 2015, lifting the economic sanctions against Iran on 16 January 2016.

Zarif has held other domestic and international positions as well: adviser and senior adviser to the Foreign Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister in Legal and International affairs, member of the UN Eminent Persons Group on Dialogue Among Civilizations, Head of the UN Disarmament Commission in New York, member of the Eminent Persons Group on global governance, and Vice President for International Affairs of the Islamic Azad University.

Zarif was born on 7 January 1960 in Tehran. According to The New Republic, Zarif is born to an "affluent, religiously devout and politically conservative merchant family in Tehran". His father was one of the most well-known businessmen of Isfahan, and his mother was the daughter of one of the most famous businessmen of Tehran. He was educated at the Alavi School, a private religious institution.

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