Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkain has appointed a former ambassador to Russia as his chief political advisor.

According to The Iran Project, Mehdi Sanaei was appointed as Deputy for Political Affairs of the IRANIAN PRESIDENCY OFFICE on Saturday.

The appointment decree was issued by Pezehkian’s chief of staff Mohsen Haji Mirzaei.

He replaces Mohammad Jamshidi who served as political advisor to former president Ebrahim Raisi for three years.

Sanaei was Iran’s ambassador to Russia for six years until 2019. He lectures at the Russian Studies Department in the Faculty of World Studies in the University of Tehran.