A round of appointments in the Iranian leadership: In the past two days, the Islamic Republic reported two senior appointments that will have a major impact on the country's foreign and security policy in the coming years. The first, and the more senior of the two, is Ali Akbar Ahmadian, who was appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council in place of Admiral Ali Shamkhani. The second is Ali Rada Anati, who will take over as Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
According to Iranian reports, Anaiti has so far served as assistant to the foreign minister and responsible for Gulf affairs in the ministry. He will take office after seven years without an ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Only last April did the countries agree to renew relations and reopen their embassies. Relations soured following the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia, a move that caused an uproar around the Saudi embassy in Tehran and led to a prolonged rift.
#ايران تعلن عن تعيين مدير عام الشؤون الخليجية في الخارجية الايرانية "علي رضا عنايتي" سفيرًا لطهران في المملكة العربية #السعودية pic.twitter.com/LUICmERlzK
— The Saudi Post (@TheSaudi_post) May 22, 2023
The resumption of relations was made possible thanks to China's mediation and the involvement of Supreme Council head Shamkhani, who is now leaving office. The rapprochement was accompanied by urgent talks by the countries' foreign ministers, and later it was announced that Saudi Arabia would renew diplomatic relations with the Assad regime in Syria, a key ally of Iran. Last weekend, Assad himself even participated in the Arab League summit after his regime's return to the regional organization. The Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia will now have to lead the process of strengthening economic ties, but also help promote Iranian interests in Saudi Arabia, which relate, among other things, to Shi'ites who make pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites and the war in Yemen.
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Iran's Supreme National Security Council is the country's most senior security body, subordinate to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shamkhani served in the post for a decade and is an appointment of the previous Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. Now, the head of the National Security Council will also be appointed by President Ebrahim Raisi, which could signal a more hawkish line in decision-making. However, assessments are that there will be no drastic change in foreign policy.
Ahmadian is a dentist who enlisted in the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War. After 15 years in the IRGC's navy, he was appointed head of the organization's Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2000. The IRNA news agency reported that last February he spoke out against Western criticism of Iran's arms exports to Russia. It was also reported that he had headed the IRGC's strategic center before his new position. In addition, in the past he served as commander of the military organization's naval forces, and according to reports he was also included on the US blacklist.
According to Tasnim News Agency, Ahmadian was a member of an IRGC military unit in which he was a companion of Qassem Soleimani. The person who would later become commander of the Quds Force and would be assassinated in 2020 in a US operation in Iraq. Ahmadiyan will now assume the most senior position he has held. On his desk will be not only military issues, but mainly the dossier of nuclear talks with the world powers and the developing relations with the Arab world.
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