Iranian woman appointed as US ambassador to Sweden

on February 13, 2022 | 10:28:52

The US Senate confirmed Azita Raji, an Iranian-born Wall Street executive living in California, as new US ambassador to Sweden.

According to Startribune, the US Senate on Friday confirmed ambassador to Sweden, ending a drawn-out political fight between Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cruz had placed a “hold” on the two nominations — a Senate procedure used to block actions — because he opposed President Obama’s Iranian nuclear deal.

On Friday, Cruz spokesman Phil Novack said he lifted his hold because, after seven months, “he feels like he has successfully drawn attention to the issues that he believes are catastrophic in the Iranian nuclear deal.”

Raji is an Iranian-born American investment banker, financial analyst and philanthropist. She was nominated by Obama in October 2014 to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Kingdom of Sweden.

She will serve as the first female United States ambassador to Sweden, as well as the first Iranian-American to be a United States ambassador.

Raji is also a member of President Obama’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Raji was born in Tehran in 1961 and went to school in Switzerland. Mother of five daughters, she has lived in the US since the age of 17.

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