Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani (; born ) is an Iranian conservative politician and former diplomat. He is currently a top adviser to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in foreign affairs and secretary of High Council for Human rights, Judiciary of Islamic Republic of Iran. He has been a key planner of Iran's foreign policy, and led the ceasefire negotiations after Iran–Iraq War. Early life and education Mamad Larijani was born to Iranian parents and is a brother of Ali Larijani, former chairman of the Parliament and Sadegh Larijani, former chief justice. Larijani is a cousin of Ahmad Tavakkoli, who is the current director of Majlis Research Center. Larijani, raised in a religious family, graduated from a hawza before starting his higher education in electrical engineering in Aryamehr University, wearing the uniform for the full four years. He later continued his studies outside Iran, in the PhD program in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Although there are reports that he has not finished his studies in Berkeley, according to Allyn Jackson, Larijani may have received his PhD from Berkeley in 1980 under the supervision of Robert Vaught. He is a professor at Imam Sadegh University and Sharif University of Technology. Career Larijani is one of the top advisors to the supreme leader and the head of the human rights council in the judiciary. The council rejects and condemns appointment of Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran by United Nations and strongly opposes the western countries' positions about current human rights situation in Iran. Iran has repeatedly been accused of human rights violations, most recently after the November 2019 protests. The UN Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has expressed "The Special Rapporteur is shocked at the number of deaths, serious injuries and reports of ill-treatment of persons detained during the November 2019 protests. According to reports, detainees are being tortured or are suffering other forms of ill-treatment, sometimes to extract forced confessions. There are also reports of denials of medical treatment, including for injuries caused by the excessive use of force by the security forces, with some other detainees being held incommunicado or being subjected to enforced disappearance. He is concerned about reports that families of individuals killed by the security forces have been threatened not to speak out. He remains highly concerned about the continuing restrictions on freedom