IVANOV, IGOR SERGEYEVICH

(1945– )

   The successor to Yevgeny Primakov, Igor Ivanov served as the foreign minister of the Russian Federation from 1998 until 2004. He was previously Russia’s ambassador to Spain. Half Georgian, he played an important role in mediating between Eduard Shevardnadze and the opposition during the so-called Rose Revolution in Georgia. During his tenure, Russia took an increasingly critical opinion of Iran’s nuclear program, stating “the clock must be stopped”; he also spearheaded Russian condemnation of the United States–led invasion of Iraq. Vladimir Putin appointed Ivanov secretary of the Security Council in 2004; he was succeeded by Sergey Lavrov. In 2007, he stepped down from government service.

   See also Foreign relations.