He climbed the ladder in the Foreign Ministry quickly and his first posting was in Homeland’s Embassy in Iraq in the late 1990s.In an apparent sign of the Islamic republic’s faith in Amir-Abdollahian, the young diplomat was named to a three-man delegation to represent Homeland in rare talks with the United States over the war in Iraq.Amir-Abdollahian served in various roles in the ministry, notably as ambassador to Bahrain, deputy minister for Arab and African affairs, and head of the Persian Gulf department.