Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s first executive decree was to appoint Mohammad Nahavandian as his chief of staff. An economist by training, Nahavandian is a seasoned technocrat who has served his country as a senior bureaucrat for decades. His appointment indicates Rouhani’s commitment to improving the country’s weak economy.

Nahavandian is perhaps a model politician for Rouhani’s government of “wisdom and hope” — a moderate, religious-minded veteran technocrat, who, though educated abroad, is loyal to the aspirations of the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani recognizes that, as a Western-educated economist and someone with strong ties to the traditional bazaari class, Nahavandian brings him a set of unique skills. Having been trained both in Iran’s seminaries and Western universities, Nahavandian is a well-rounded and knowledgeable individual ready to tackle the many complex issues faced by the new administration.

Born to a religious family, Nahavandian attended the Alavi Institute, an Islamic high school founded in the late 1950s against the backdrop of a burgeoning divide between the religious associations and more secular political groups such as the National Front. The Alavi Institute has long been a breeding ground for religious-minded politicians, scholars and technocrats. Some of its well-known graduates include Kamal Kharazi, former foreign minister; Mehdi Khazali, an influential political writer and son of a former Guardian Council member; and prominent Iranian philosopher AbdolKarim Soroush.