Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri

Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nouri
Speaker of the Parliament of Iran
In office 3 May 1992 – 3 May 2000
Preceded by	Mehdi Karroubi
Succeeded by	Mehdi Karroubi
Minister of the Interior
In office 15 August 1981 – 19 August 1985
President	Ali Khamenei
Prime Minister	Mahdavi Kani Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Preceded by	Mahdavi Kani
Succeeded by	Akbar Mohtashamipur
Personal details
Born	6 October 1944 Noor, Mazandaran, Iran
Alma mater	Tehran University (B.A. in Theology and Law)
Religion	Shia Islam

Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri (Persian: علی‌اکبر ناطق‌نوری‎‎), sometimes spelled Nategh-Nouri (born 1944) is an Iranian politician. Nateq-Nouri was born in Noor, Mazandaran province, in 1944.

Career

Nateq-Nouri was the interior minister of the Islamic Republic.^[1] He served as the Chairman of the Parliament from 1992 to 2000. He was a candidate in the Iranian presidential election in 1997.^[2][3] He was Khamanei's preferred candidate, but he lost the election to Mohammad Khatami.^[4] He was given nearly seven million votes, whereas Khatami twenty million votes.^[5] He currently serves as an advisor to Iran's supreme leader^[6] and is a critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He officially visited Egypt in 2010.^[6]

Controversy

Nateq-Nouri was at the center of an international dispute in 2009 after he referred to Bahrain as Iran's 14th province. Bahrain paused negotiations with Iran regarding gas imports in response, and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf condemned the remarks.^[7] The Iranian foreign minister immediately commented on the controversy and stated that Nateq-Nouri's remarks about the history of Bahrain had been misinterpreted by the media and that Iran respected Bahrain's sovereignty.^[7][8] Nateq-Nouri himself told Al Jazeera that his remarks about the history of the region had been misunderstood and that his comment was not relevant to today's Iran-Bahrain relationship.^[9]

References

1. Fred R. Dallmayr (1999). Border Crossing: Toward a Comparative Political Theory. Lexington Books. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-7391-0043-1. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
2. "Iran Elections: An Overview". CNN. 1997. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
3. Clip Transcript
4. Ali Gheissari; Vali Nasr (2006). Democracy in Iran (PDF). New York City: OUP. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
5. "Iran's President Khatami likely to lose one Cabinet nominee". Hürriyet Daily News. 19 August 1997. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
6. "Iran-Egypt Relations Enters a New Phase". IRD. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
7. Ali Khan, Ghazanfar (23 February 2009). "GCC warns Iran against making hostile remarks". Arab News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
8. "Iran-Bahrain relations" (in Persian). BBC Persian. 5 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
9. Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.