Mohammad Javad Zarif has two Master's degrees and a PhD in International Law and Politics. He is the author of the book 'Self-Defense in International Law and Politics', published at the University of Denver in 1988.
He was the first Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Ali-Akbar Velayati, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN, as well as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Relations and Law. In 1993, he headed the Iranian delegation to Iraq for negotiations on controversial issues remaining after the 1980-1988 war, as well as on the fate of prisoners of war. At the same time, he was a Professor of International Law at the Tehran University, was a member of the editorial board of a number of academic journals, including the 'Journal of International Relations and Iranian Foreign Policy', in which he published the articles on disarmament, human rights, international law and regional conflicts. In 2000 he was the Chairman of the UN Disarmament Commission, was the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN. From August 15, 2013 to August 25, 2021, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran.