Hossein Kazempour Ardebili

Hossein Kazempour Ardebili was an Iranian diplomat and politician, serving as Iran's representative to OPEC from 1995 to 2008 and again from 2013 to his death in 2020. Previously, he served as the nation's commerce minister, as well as deputy foreign minister and deputy oil minister at various times in the 1980s. He served as the Iranian ambassador to Japan from 1990 to 1994. He died in 2020 due to a brain haemorrhage caused by COVID-19. Bloomberg News called Ardebili the "ultimate OPEC negotiator" who "defended Iran's oil interests through war and sanctions".