Mohammad Nahavandian
Mohammad Nahavandian (, born 2 February 1954) is an Iranian politician and economist who served as the Vice President for Economic Affairs. He was formerly Chief of Staff of the President of Iran, serving from 2013 until 2017. He is described as a "moderate, religious-minded veteran technocrat" with strong ties to the traditional bazaari class. He was reportedly on friendly terms with late Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as Ali Larijani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Early life and education Nahavandian is the son of Jafar Nahavandian, a famous Iranian religious figure and founder of Hossienieh Zanjaniha (). He was born in 1954 in Tehran. He graduated from Alavi Institute in the early 1970s and started to study in Hawza. with a degree in economics and then moved to United States for education at George Washington University. He left the United States and returned to Iran before Iranian Revolution. He was one of the closest people to Morteza Motahari and Mohammad Javad Bahonar. He then founded Economic Council of Iran in 1980 but returned to the United States to continue his education. He received his Ph.D in economics in 1989 and founded Islamic Cooperation of the Americans. He returned to Iran after