Iran’s former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has died as a result of injuries sustained during a US-Israeli airstrike earlier this month, according to Iranian state media reports carried by Ada Derana on Friday.
Kharrazi served as Iran’s foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 under President Mohammad Khatami and was involved in international negotiations, including back-channel contacts with the United States. At the time of his death, he was chairman of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, an advisory body to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
His death adds to the growing toll of senior Iranian officials killed in the ongoing conflict. Earlier this month, IRGC intelligence chief Khademi was killed in a strike on Tehran, and explosions struck Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal.
The loss of a senior diplomatic figure is seen as further narrowing the diplomatic channels available for any future negotiation between Tehran and Washington, even as the fragile US-Iran ceasefire remains under strain with disputes over Hormuz shipping.
Independent confirmation of the specific strike that caused Kharrazi’s injuries was not immediately available.
