Economics
OPEC’s Ultimate Fighter: Iran’s Man Battled Bombs and Sanctions
- Iran’s envoy to the oil cartel died of a brain hemorrhage
- The diplomat was was first named Iran’s OPEC governor in 1985
Hossein Kazempour Ardebili
Photographer: Anis Belghoul/APThis article is for subscribers only.
He survived a bombing that left him badly wounded, shrugged off accusations of arms smuggling, and defended Iran’s oil interests through war and sanctions. Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, who died on Saturday, was one of the ultimate OPEC negotiators.
Kazempour -- steely, charming, and combative -- was Iran’s envoy to the OPEC oil cartel almost uninterruptedly from 1985. He was a constant in international energy circles even as administrations in Tehran came and went, serving under both reformist President Mohammad Khatami and hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And in oil affairs, Iran played a weak hand well.