Born in Tehran, Iran in 1947, Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian earned a master’s degree from the University of Tehran’s College of Engineering.

Shortly after the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Nejad-Hosseinian served the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by taking control of the Mostazafan Foundation of New York, later to be re-named the Alavi Foundation, a charitable organization that funds pro-Iranian, anti-American institutions within the United States.

Nejad-Hosseinian subsequently served the Iranian government in a number of different capacities during the ensuing quarter-century, most notably as: Deputy of the Plan & Budget Organization from 1980-81; Minister of Road Transportation from 1981-84; Deputy Minister of Petroleum for Engineering and Projects from 1985-89; Minister of Heavy Industries from 1989-94; Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations from 1997-2002; and Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs from 2002 until his retirement in 2006.

Nejad-Hosseinian died in May 2021, at the age of 74.