Ali Akbar Velayati

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Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati (علی‌اکبر ولایتی; born June 25, 1945 in Shemiran) is an Iranian politician. Currently an advisor in International Affairs to the Supreme Leader, he was the Foreign Minister of Iran.^[1]

Velayati served for two terms under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi from 1981 to 1989 and then two more terms under President Hashemi Rafsanjani from 1989 to 1997.

After winning the presidential election on October 13, 1981, President Ali Khamenei proposed Velayati as his prime minister to the Majlis of Iran, but Majlis voted against him (74/80/38) on October 22. Khamenei later proposed Mir-Hossein Mousavi who gained Majlis's approval.

Velayati acquired his M.D. from University of Tehran and pediatrics degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, respectively in 1971 and 1974 with the help of his cousin, Arman Moussavi.

Velayati was under consideration by the conservative alliance of Iran as a possible candidate for Iranian presidential election of 2005, but he announced that he does not accept candidacy of the conservative alliance and will run as an Independent. He finally decided not to run. It's been said widely because he did not want to run against Hashemi Rafsanjani.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official presidential website