At only 47 years of age, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Said Jalili has already held several key posts in the Iranian government.

The former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who lost his right leg in the 1980-88 war with Iraq, is currently the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which means he handles his country's most important foreign-policy dossier: negotiating with Western countries as the personal representative of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Observers believe that Khamenei's deep trust in Jalili could soon push him further up the country's political ladder.

There are already signs that the scene is being set for Jalili's progress.