Ali Akbar Velayati

Ali Akbar Velayati ( ; born 24 June 1945) is an Iranian conservative politician and physician. Velayati is a professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

He is a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader in international affairs and head of the board of founders and the board of trustees of the Islamic Azad University.

He is also a member of Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Fame, Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Expediency Discernment Council's President of Center for Strategic Research and senior fellow of Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences.

He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for more than fifteen years from December 1981 to August 1997 under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Presidents Ali Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. 

He is the first and only person to have held this position for more than ten years. He was a candidate in 2013 presidential election and lost, coming fifth out of the six candidates garnering 2,268,753 votes, which was 6.18% of the votes.

On 12 March 2020, it was reported that Velayati been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019. He was reported to be under quarantine.

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Category:1945 births
Category:Living people
Category:Iranian academics
Category:Iranian politicians
Category:Iranian physicians