NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF IRAN PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF IRAN PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

M. Javad Zarif, the new Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan today.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Zarif served from 1992 to 2002 as Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs.  From 1989 to 1992 he served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.  Mr. Zarif served in a number of positions at the Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations from 1982 to 1988, including Adviser, Counsellor and Chargé d'affaires.  He was adviser to the Foreign Minister from 1989 to 1999 in Tehran.

Throughout his career in international relations, Mr. Zarif has held leadership positions on numerous intergovernmental bodies.  Most recently, in 2001, he was Chairman of the Asian Preparatory Meeting for the World Conference on Racism.  From 2000 to 2002 he was a member of the United Nations Group of Eminent Persons on Dialogue among Civilizations.  In 2000, he was Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Commission.  In 1998 he was the Chairman of the Political Committee of the Twelfth Non-Aligned Summit in Durban.  Also in 1998, he served as Chairman of the High-level Governmental Expert Committee on Confidence Building.  From 1992 to 1993, he chaired the General Assembly's Sixth Committee (Legal).

The author of numerous publications, Mr. Zarif has held a number of university positions, lecturing on topics such as human rights, international law, international organizations and multilateral diplomacy.  In 1997 he became Visiting Professor of International Law at the University of Tehran.  He has also been a Visiting Professor at the College of International Relations in Tehran since 1989.

Mr. Zarif received a Bachelors degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University in 1981.  In 1982 and 1984, he earned Masters degrees in International Relations from San Francisco State University and the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in Colorado, respectively.  Mr. Zarif also received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in International Law and Politics from the University of Denver in 1988.

Born in Tehran in January 1960, Mr. Zarif is married with two children.

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