Ali Akbar Velayati

Ali Akbar Velayati (علی‌اکبر ولایتی; born June 25, 1945 in Shemiran) is an Iranian politician, academic and diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1997. Currently he is an advisor in International Affairs to the Supreme Leader,Majd, Hooman. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ. Doubleday. 2008. 224.

Velayati served for two terms under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi from 1981 to 1989 and then two more terms under President Ali Akbar 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 Parliament of Iran, but Parliament voted against him (74/80/38) on October 22. Khamenei later proposed Mir-Hossein Mousavi who gained Parliament'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 Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

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