TEHRAN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday appointed the first female embassador of the Islamic republic since 1979.

Marzieh Afkham will start her mission as the Iranian ambassador to Malaysia late in November.

Afkham, who headed the Center for Public and Media Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry over the past years, served as the first female spokesperson for the ministry since September 2013, when President Hassan Rouhani took office.

The last female ambassador dispatched by Iran was Mehranghiz Dolatshahi, who served as Tehran's envoy to Denmark for three years until the 1979 Islamic revolution, ISNA said.