--- title: Mohammad Javad Zarif by Robin Wright: TIME 100 description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-15T15:02:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:22:31.056Z og:title: Mohammad Javad Zarif by Robin Wright: TIME 100 og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. og:url: https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86509c9e29c8237f/6987eb130b72e3299e6e179a/mohammad-javad-zarif-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mohammad Javad Zarif by Robin Wright: TIME 100 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mohammad Javad Zarif by Robin Wright: TIME 100 twitter:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86509c9e29c8237f/6987eb130b72e3299e6e179a/mohammad-javad-zarif-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 15, 2015 # Mohammad Javad Zarif by Robin Wright  TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 25: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is seen during a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic at the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran, Iran on January 25, 2015\. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 25: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is seen during a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic at the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran, Iran on January 25, 2015\. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)Fatemeh Bahrami—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Mohammad Javad Zarif is the happy face of Iran’s stern revolution. I’ve known him three decades, as he helped end the Iran-Iraq War, free American hostages in Lebanon and broker a new Afghan government after the Taliban’s defeat. Now, as Foreign Minister, he’s the pivot in nuclear diplomacy. For 18 months, the world’s six major powers have courted him as they have no other foreign official. The goal is to formalize the blueprint of a nuclear deal by June 30\. Educated at two American universities, Zarif is well qualified to reconcile the revolutionaries and the world. As Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., he engaged many in Congress. In March, an Iranian poll picked Zarif as man of the year. When he returned from the talks, he was mobbed. After a deal, Zarif would be the natural go-to guy for broader détente with the world too. _Wright is a joint fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson Center_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/"},"headline":"Mohammad Javad Zarif","datePublished":"2015-04-15T15:02:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:31.056Z","description":"Iran's dealmaker","url":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86509c9e29c8237f/6987eb130b72e3299e6e179a/mohammad-javad-zarif-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86509c9e29c8237f/6987eb130b72e3299e6e179a/mohammad-javad-zarif-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3822829/mohammad-javad-zarif-2015-time-100/","name":"Mohammad Javad Zarif"}}]}] ```