The empty position of Iranian ambassador to Syria has been hotly debated by conservatives in the Iranian Parliament, especially when a critical situation necessitated a more resolute Iranian embassy in Damascus.
Mehr news agency says Zarif has obtained President Rouhani’s consent to appoint Torkabadi as the new envoy to Damascus in a move to address such concerns.
Torkabadi served as Iran’s ambassador to Sudan (2010-14); he has also been Iran’s ambassador to Bahrain and Nigeria, and was for a time Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Kuwait. Back in Foreign Ministry, Torkabadi chaired the First Office of North and West Africa.
Iran’s embassy in Damascus had been run by a chargé d’affaires after Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani left the position who had begun service as part of a 5-year mission that ended in October 2016.
