Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Former Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 11, 2013. (AP Photo)

Candidate Profile: Ali Akbar Velayati

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 11, 2013 | Features, Profiles

For many years, Ali Akbar Velayati was known as the top man in Iranian diplomacy. He served as Iran’s foreign minister for 16 years, from 1981 until 1997, during the presidencies of Ayatollah Khamenei and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Notably, he is among those whose...

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Mayor of Tehran, Iranian Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks during a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Source: AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri

Candidate Profile: Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 10, 2013 | Features, Profiles

At the age of 19, Qalibaf participated in the Iran–Iraq War and was soon appointed commander of a division despite his youth. After the war, he was appointed the deputy commander of the Resistance Force and Basij troops, and began climbing the ranks of the Iranian...

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Iranian presidential candidate and lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili waves to supporters during a campaign rally in Tehran on May 24, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Candidate Profile: Saeed Jalili

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 9, 2013 | Features, Profiles

Saeed Jalili was almost completely unknown in Iranian politics until October 20, 2007, when he was appointed as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, after service as a diplomat in Iran’s foreign ministry. Since...

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File photo of new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Candidate Profile: Hassan Rouhani

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 8, 2013 | Features, Profiles

Though he has held a number of official posts in the power structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran over his lengthy political career, Hassan Rouhani has come to be seen by many of Iran’s beleaguered reformist movement as their best hope in 2013. The only...

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Pakistan’s incoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waves to his party’s newly elected MPs in Lahore on May 20, 2013 (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)

Nawaz Sharif: Back in the game

by Umar Farouq | May 27, 2013 | Profiles

Islamabad, Asharq Al-Awsat—In the first week of June, a triumphant Nawaz Sharif will re-enter the prime minister’s house in Islamabad, Pakistan, to re assume his position as chief executive of the country—his third time at the helm. Sharif has often told his close...

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British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher turns to look at the crush of photographers in the Oval Office as President Reagan laughs during a photo session at the White House in Washington in this February 20, 1985 file photo. (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite, File)

Maggie’s Straight-Talking Diplomacy

by Nicholas Blincoe | Apr 17, 2013 | Profiles

More than 20 years after her resignation, the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher remains a global brand. A memorable line from her 1980 Conservative Party conference speech, “The lady’s not for turning,” became her sales pitch. Like the marketing slogans...