Iran to accredit 1st woman ambassador

The Islamic Republic of Iran is to entrust representing the country to a woman diplomat for the first time, a report says.

The incumbent Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, is to be accredited as the country’s first woman ambassador in the near future, the Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.

She will reportedly head the Islamic Republic's mission in an East Asian country.

The official has been serving in the position as the ministry’s first woman spokesperson for more than a year.

It is not yet clear who will replace her in the position as the spokesperson.

Setting precedent has been Mansoureh Sharifi-Sadr, who served as the charge d'affaires of Iran's Embassy in Japan during the ambassadorship of Abbas Araqchi, the current deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs. Araqchi had preceded Afkham as the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson.