PARIS -- Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Ahmad Jalali was officially appointed as that organization's first Iranian head of Plenary Conference on Monday. During the ceremony held at UNESCO's Paris head office, in the presence of representatives from 188 countries and some 3,000 prominent cultural figures from across the globe, Jalali was introduced as the thirty-first head of the UN's Cultural Organization. A double major graduate of philosophy and engineering from Tehran and Oxford universities, Jalali has been serving as Iran's representative at UNESCO since April, 1997. He was elected for the highly reputable post during the 162nd official session of the UNESCO's Plenary Conference in a secret ballot in which Jalali secured thirty-six out of the fifty-eight cast votes. According to IRNA, the Plenary Conference is the highest policy making body of the UNESCO in which also the biannual budget of the organization is ratified. The informed sources at UN believe the appointment of an Iranian head at the highest level UNESCO body is a sign of the international community's attraction towards the cultural and Islamic viewpoints of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The period of the rotating chairmanship of UNESCO is two years.