Al Monitor | Mohammad Ali Shabani: “I remember that it was the first of Esfand,” the former senior Iranian official recalled, referring to Feb. 20 in the Iranian calendar, “I was at the Supreme National Security Council with Mr. Rouhani, and I told him that we won’t have any vacation for Nowruz this year. He asked: ‘What do you mean?’ I responded that I would be at his service.” The prediction turned out to be true.

As secretary of Iran’s top decision-making body, Hassan Rouhani spent the Iranian New Year holidays of March 2003 coordinating its daily meetings. The sessions were not held at the ordinary address in downtown Tehran. Rather, they were convened at the Center for Strategic Research, a think tank that Rouhani headed, overlooking a former palace of the shah in the leafy north of the Iranian capital. In contrast, the Supreme National Security Council had only met once every week or two, even in the months prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Almost 16 years later, Rouhani will embark on his first official trip to Iran’s western neighbor as president. The landmark visit next week has been preceded by a string of trips by his first vice president, oil minister, the governor of the Iranian central bank and other top officials. In mid-January, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spent five straight days touring the country.

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