Robert Malley
U.S. Special Representative for Iran
Robert Malley was born in 1963 in New York and grew up in Paris, France. He attended Yale University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he earned a D.Phil. in political science. He earned a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron White. After his clerkship, Malley became a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
He served in President Clinton’s administration as Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council. He was later Executive Assistant to the National Security Advisor before being appointed Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs.
After his service there, he became Senior Policy Advisor for the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Development in Washington, D.C. He later became Program Director for Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group in Washington, directing analysts based in Amman, Cairo, Beirut, Tel Aviv, and Baghdad.
Malley joined President Obama’s administration as a consultant on Persian Gulf policy and as senior director of the National Security Council. He was the lead negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
In January 2021, President Biden named Malley U.S. Special Envoy to Iran.
He is married to Caroline and they have three children.
In the News…
Members of President Biden’s administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are contemplating military operations to counter Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program as any hopes of renewing the 2015 nuclear accord fade.
The president’s special envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, who was the American point man for the nuclear negotiations, struck a pessimistic note during a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Forum. “Iran is giving us its answer by what it’s doing and not doing every day, and we need to take that in account,” he said.
“Our assessment at the time was that we were making real progress,” he said. “Now, two big caveats: One, were we reading the Iranians correctly, even then? And two, we now have a different team, different leadership with a different president, that is clearly stating that it wants to do things differently.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Mr. Malley? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Robert Malley
Special Representative for Iran
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St NW
Washington, DC 20520
