Shariatmadari became a member of Council of the islamic revolution following
the 1979 revolution. He is among the founders of Iran’s
intelligence ministry and served as deputy intelligence minister. He was one of the supporters of
Ayatollah Mohammad Reyshahri in
the presidential election in 1997. In 2006, he was appointed to then newly founded the Strategic Council for Foreign Relation as a member. He is also a foreign policy advisor to
Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. He was also appointed as acting Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports on 28 October 2013 after Rouhani's nominee for the post was rejected by the Parliament.
Candidacy for 2013 election In August 2012, the Society for Defending the Values of the Islamic Revolution announced that Shariatmadari as its candidate for
the presidential election to be held in June 2013. He was among independent and technocrat candidates. On the other hand, he was also regarded as one of the
reformist candidates. He announced in April 2013 that he would withdraw his candidacy if
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,
Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri,
Mohammad Khatami or
Hassan Khomeini run for the election. In May 2013, Shariatmadari withdrew his candidacy in favor of Rafsanjani. ==References==