Mohammad Javad Zarif

Mohammad Javad Zarif is an Iranian diplomat and politician who has worked in the fields of international relations, multilateral diplomacy, and foreign policy. He pursued his higher education in international relations in the United States and then joined the diplomatic apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A significant part of his professional career was shaped in connection with the United Nations and international institutions.

Zarif served as Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2002 to 2007, and in this capacity was involved in discussions concerning international security, the Dialogue Among Civilizations, regional issues, and Iran's nuclear dossier. He later became known as a professor and researcher of international relations, and in his writings and speeches emphasized the importance of dialogue, multilateralism, understanding the structure of global power, and diplomacy in resolving conflicts.

The most significant period of Zarif's political presence was as Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Hassan Rouhani. During this period, he was one of the principal figures in Iran's nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 group; negotiations that led in 2015 to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the JCPOA. This role made Zarif one of the most recognized figures of contemporary Iranian diplomacy on the global stage.

Zarif's works and discourses primarily fall within the domains of Iran's foreign policy, Iran-West relations, the international order, multilateralism, and the necessity of political resolution of crises. His significance for an audience of thought and politics lies, above all, in the link between the practical experience of diplomacy and the theoretical discussions of international relations.