His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani

His Excellency Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs by Royal Decree on 11 February 2020 succeeding His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

Prior to becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani served as the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) from 2011 to 2020. During his time as Secretary General His Excellency led GCC mediation efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis that ultimately led to the signing of the GCC Initiative in 2011.

His Excellency held various high-profile roles in the Bahrain Defence Force and the Ministry of Interior, most notably the Chief of Police Security, before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an Advisor in the rank of Minister in 2010. His Excellency the Minister held multiple academic roles as a Professor of Mathematics, Statistics, and Quantitative Methods at the University of Bahrain, University of Maryland in Bahrain, and in the Arabian Gulf University.

His Excellency Dr Al Zayani is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1973 and a graduate of the Aeronautical Engineering Program in Perth, Scotland in 1978. In 1980, His Excellency received a Master’s degree in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio and in 1986 he attained his PhD in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, California.