Former Ambassador & Taliban Critic Appointed As Iran’s Director General For South Asia

Mohammad Reza Bahrami, the former Iranian ambassador to Kabul and a known critic of the Taliban, has been appointed as Director General for South Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The announcement, reported by IRNA on Tuesday, stated that Bahrami was appointed to the position by Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bahrami is a seasoned diplomat who has twice served as Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan. His first term began in the final years of President Mohammad Khatami’s administration (August 2003) and continued until 2007, during the first term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.

According to IRNA, before his departure from Kabul, Hamid Karzai awarded Bahrami the prestigious “Ahmad Shah Massoud” government medal in recognition of his diplomatic contributions.

A decade later, in 2013, Bahrami was reappointed as Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, a role he held until November 2019.

Prior to his ambassadorial appointments, Bahrami served as Iran’s Consul General in Jalalabad and Kandahar, further deepening his diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan.

His expertise in Afghan affairs was evident when he accompanied Abbas Araghchi during the Iranian Foreign Minister’s first visit to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s return to power.