Tehran: Former Iranian Foreign minister Kamal Kharazi died on Thursday, succumbing to injuries from US-Israeli airstrikes on April 1.
Iranian news agencies Mehr and Isna announced on Telegram that the veteran diplomat “who was injured in a terrorist attack carried out by the American-Zionist enemy a few days ago, died a martyr tonight.”
The 81-year-old, head of the Foreign ministry-affiliated Strategic Council on International Relations, was a key advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on foreign policy, notably influencing recent nuclear talks with Washington. Kharazi’s wife was killed when their Tehran home was struck.
From 1980 to 1989, Kharazi led the Islamic Republic News Agency. During the Iran-Iraq War, he sat on Iran’s Supreme Defence Council and served as military spokesperson. He represented Iran at the United Nations in New York and was the country’s Foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 under President Mohammad Khatami.
Neither the United States nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the strike that wounded Kharazi. Critics blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, alleging it sought to derail US-Iran negotiations to end the conflict.
US-Israeli attacks on Iran started February 28, which killed senior Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah Khamenei.
