The US secretary of state has welcomed Ramin Toloui as the new assistant secretary of state for the bureau of economic and business affairs.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Antony Blinken said the bureau will benefit from his extensive experience, “as we advance a foreign policy that delivers for the American people”.

Toloui was the assistant secretary of the treasury for international finance and development in the Obama administration and was appointed as the Biden’s administration nominee for assistant state secretary on July 30, 2021. He was confirmed by the Senate on December 16, 2021.

The purpose of the bureau is paving the way for American companies doing business in global markets, and leveraging economic tools to deny financing to terrorists, human rights abusers, and corrupt officials.

He is professor of finance at Stanford University, and his research focuses on international economic policy, financial crises, and the economic impact of artificial intelligence.

As Blinken’s point person for negotiating business agreements, Toloui’s expertise can be used to curb Iran’s network of money laundering and economic support for terrorist groups in the world as well as in the trade war with China.

Toloui was born and raised in Iowa and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and an MPhil from Oxford University.