Iran's chief nuclear negotiator is like no other diplomat. Saeed Jalili drives a battered Kia Pride that was assembled many years ago in Iran, insists on lugging his own suitcases around on high-level trips abroad and has a reputation for indulging in monologue rather than debate.
It is not just Mr Jalili's style that makes him so different to the international big-name envoys he grapples with on the momentous issue of Iran's nuclear programme. His background is alien to the likes of Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, or William Burns, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Mr Jalili's world view - and enduring suspicion of the West - was forged during the horrors of Iran's eight-year war against Iraq. Like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mr Jalili served in the Revolutionary Guards, but unlike the Iranian president, he spent most of his time on the front line. Mr Jalili lost half his right leg in the war and is said to have survived two Iraqi chemical gas attacks.
He is a hardline ideologue, a true believer in Iran's Islamic system. Roger Cohen, a columnist for The New York Times, wrote in August that Mr Jalili was described to him in Tehran "as a chief architect" of the post-election clampdown.
Mr Jalili had little diplomatic experience when, in October 2007, Mr Ahmadinejad appointed him secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a post that automatically made him the country's chief nuclear negotiator.
He was a controversial choice. The West feared it signalled Tehran would take a harder line in the nuclear standoff while prominent Iranian conservatives complained that Mr Jalili lacked the negotiating experience to secure Iran's nuclear rights.
Nader Entessar, an Iran expert at the University of South Alabama, said: "The framework from which he [Jalili] looks at foreign policy issues is essentially the experience of the seventh century and how it could apply to contemporary events and I think that is his most important drawback."
Mr Jalili wrote a book titled The Foreign Policy of the Prophet, a development of his PhD thesis, Paradigm of Political Thought of Islam in the Holy Quran. His doctorate was in political science, but his thesis was essentially a theological dissertation. He studied at Imam Sadeq University, a conservative institution where many Revolutionary Guards and members of the Basij paramilitary are educated.
Mr Jalili is said to have spoken at length about his thesis during a meeting on Iran's nuclear programme with international envoys in July 2008, forcing some to stifle yawns. His monologues often bear little relevance to the subject matter at hand, experts say.
Hardline Iranian newspapers, however, hailed Mr Jalili's performance in the Geneva talks on October 1 with representatives of the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. Iran agreed to give international weapons inspectors access to its newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant under construction near Qom.
The meeting also resulted in a tentative, but vital, confidence-building measure under which Iran will send most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium to Russia to be converted into material for a medical research reactor in Tehran.
Such decisions would not have been made by Mr Jalili, but by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in consultation with other senior regime figures. "But he's [Jalili] responsible for conveying the messages [from Tehran and how he does this] - is also very important", Mr Entessar said in an interview.
Many analysts doubt Mr Jalili is the right person for such a sensitive role. If negotiations move on to the expert level, Iran will need to draw on more sophisticated technocrats from its foreign ministry.
From Iran's point of view, the Geneva meeting tacitly acknowledged its right to enrich uranium, the most controversial aspect of its nuclear programme.
"We did not retreat. They did backtrack!" enthused a headline on an editorial in Iran's Kayhan daily newspaper. The editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, a fiery hardliner and close aide of Ayatollah Khamenei, made clear his admiration for Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
"By the way, Dr Jalili is a war veteran who lost a leg during the Sacred Defence era," Shariatmadari wrote. "He has also memorised the entire Holy Quran. Certainly, it does not hurt anyone to bring this up!"
Mr Jalili, who was born in the north-eastern city of Mashhad 44 years ago, became the director general of Ayatollah Khamenei's office in 2001, but remained a relatively obscure figure until his surprise appointment as chief nuclear negotiator six years later.
He was already a favourite of the president, an old friend. When Mr Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, he appointed Mr Jalili deputy foreign minister for European and US affairs. Critics said he got the job because of his hardline political views and loyalty to the president: he had no experience in the diplomatic corps.
The characters of the two men are very different. Softly spoken and low-key, Mr Jalili does not revel in the limelight like the president and does not share Mr Ahmadinejad's love of bombast and slogans.
Diplomats who have met Mr Jalili say he expresses strongly held convictions and is very persistent in discussions.
Despite his inexperience, Mr Jalili is said to have been instrumental in shaping Mr Ahmadinejad's policy of strengthening relations with Latin America and Africa. He is reported to have used a visit to Cuba in 2005 to attempt to convince Fidel Castro to embrace Islam.
Mr Jalili is also said to have helped Mr Ahmadinejad with a remarkable 18-page letter to George W Bush in 2006. The US president was informed that western-style democracy and liberalism had failed and it was time for him to return to religion. Mr Bush never replied.
mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores
Day 1
Toss England, chose to bat
England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
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TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate