Rouhani's US-Educated Chief of Staff Knows East and West
Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff is a US-educated technocrat who is close to Iran's religious and merchant classes.
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.
