Mohammad-Javad Larijani

Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani (; born ) is an Iranian conservative politician and former diplomat. He is currently a top adviser to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in foreign affairs and secretary of High Council for Human rights, Judiciary of Islamic Republic of Iran. He has been a key planner of Iran's foreign policy, and led the ceasefire negotiations after Iran–Iraq War. Early life and education Mamad Larijani was born to Iranian parents and is a brother of Ali Larijani, former chairman of the Parliament and Sadegh Larijani, former chief justice. Larijani is a cousin of Ahmad Tavakkoli, who is the current director of Majlis Research Center. Larijani, raised in a religious family, graduated from a hawza before starting his higher education in electrical engineering in Aryamehr University, wearing the uniform for the full four years. He later continued his studies outside Iran, and began to study in the PhD program in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. However, he did not complete his studies at Berkeley.