Topic: Manuchehr Mottaki

Manouchehr Mottaki at the 2008 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland

Manouchehr Mottaki (Persian: منوچهر متکی , born 12 May 1953 in Bandar Gaz) is the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Whilst technically appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is considered to be closer to more pragamatic conservative factions and during the 2005 presidential election, he was the campaign manager of Ali Larijani, the right-conservative candidate.

He grew up in Bandar-Gaz and went to school there. Bandar-Gaz by that time during the Reza Shah Pahlavi considered an important city in the north with a national railroad and several infrastructures.This was because the city was considered as a transit bridge to the north mainly to the former Soviet Union. After graduation, he joined the army and as national plan joined the public education program by that day which was conducted by the government. He went to Khorasan province and established a school in a poor village around Mashhad and taught there. After his service in the army, since he was interested in social and political issues, he decided to travel abroad both for experience and study. By that time many Iranians traveled to India as a popular academic destination. So he traveled there for a few years before the revolution in Iran.