Iran's president nominates Abbas Araqchi as foreign minister

Abbas Araqchi was nominated on Sunday as Iran's foreign minister by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's parliament speaker announced live on the Student News Network.

"From tomorrow morning, parliamentary commissions will start reviewing the plans of proposed ministers until the end of next week," parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said as Iran's parliament still needs to approve Pezeshkian's nominated cabinet.

Araqchi is a seasoned pragmatist diplomat who acted as chief negotiator in nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers from 2013 to 2021.

He has served as Iran's ambassador to Japan and Finland, and held the role of deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific for two years before becoming spokesperson of the ministry in 2013 for a short period.

When Mohammad Javad Zarif was foreign minister, Araqchi was the second most influential official at the foreign ministry and held roles like deputy for legal and international affairs and deputy for political affairs.

He holds a PhD in Political Thought from the University of Kent.