Mohammad Reyshahri

Mohammad Reyshahri (Persian: محمد ری‌‌شهری), also known as Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik (29 October 1946 – 21 March 2022), was an Iranian politician and cleric who was the first Minister of Intelligence, serving from 1984 to 1989 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Mohammad Reyshahri
Member of the Assembly of Experts
In office
24 May 2016 – 21 March 2022
ConstituencyTehran Province
Majority1,952,563 (43.38%)
Prosecutor-General of Iran
In office
1989–1991
Appointed byMohammad Yazdi
PresidentAli Khamenei
Preceded byMohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha
Succeeded bySeyed Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi
1st Minister of Intelligence of Iran
In office
15 August 1984 – 29 August 1989
Prime MinisterMir-Hossein Mousavi
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAli Fallahian
Personal details
Born
Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik

29 October 1946
Rey, Iran
Died21 March 2022(2022-03-21) (aged 75)
Tehran, Iran
Political partyAssociation for Defence of Revolution Values (1996–1999)[1]
Alma materHaghani Circle

Early life and education

Reyshahri was born into a religious family in Rey on 29 October 1946.[2][3] He was educated in Qom and Najaf in the field of theology.[2] He and his successor at the ministry of intelligence, Ali Fallahian, were alumni of the Haqqani School in Qom.[4]

Career

Reyshahri began to involve himself in political activities in June 1963 during the religious revolts after Khomeini's famous speech in Qom.[2] In 1967, he fled to Najaf and stayed there for a while. Upon his return to Iran, he was imprisoned.[2] While incarcerated, he met Ali Khamenei, who later became supreme leader of Iran.[5] Until the Iranian Revolution, he was banned from preaching.[2]

From 1984 to 1989, in prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi's cabinet,[6] Reyshahri served as the inaugural minister of intelligence.[7] Into his tenure as minister of intelligence falls the case of Mehdi Hashemi. Reyshahri executed Hashemi two days ahead of schedule on 28 September 1987, so that Reyshahri would not need to follow a letter written by Ayatollah Khomeini on 28 September in which he informed Reyshahri that the sentence had been commuted to internal exile.[8]

Reyshahri was appointed chief prosecutor of the Special Court for the Clergy in 1990. He drafted the court's 47-article ordinance, which was subsequently passed in 1990.[8] Before the Majlis elections in 1996, he established the Society for the Defence of the Values of the Islamic Revolution.[9]

Reyshahri was also an unsuccessful presidential candidate in the election on 23 May 1997, which led to the presidency of Mohammad Khatami.[10] He finished in fourth place among the four candidates approved by the Guardian Council.[11]

He was appointed representative for Hajj affairs to Ali Khamenei.[12] He was the dean of the Dar Al Hadith Scientific Cultural Institute.[3]

Later life

Reyshahri wrote more than 75 books on Islamic teachings,[7] and one of them, entitled The Wisdom of Christ, was translated and published in English in South Africa to mark the New Year in 2022.[13]

Reyshahri died at a hospital in Tehran on 21 March 2022 at the age of 75.[7] At the funeral on 23 March, Ali Khamenei described Reyshahri as "a benevolent person who served the people" and "always a source of blessings".[5]

References
  1. "List of Legally Registerred Parties in Iran". Khorasan Newspaper. Pars Times. 30 July 2000. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  2. Buchta, Wilfried (2000). Who rules Iran? (PDF). The Washington Institute and The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. p. 19.
  3. "Dean of Dar Al-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute". Dar Al-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  4. "Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A profile" (Report). Federal Research Division. December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  5. "Imam Khamenei: 'I only saw goodness in him'". abna24.com. ABNA. 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022. After performing the funeral prayer for the diligent, religious scholar Sheikh Muhammadi Reyshahri on March 23, 2022, Imam Khamenei described this scholar as being a benevolent person who served the people. ... Referring to his first meeting with Mr. ReyShahri in prison during the Pahlavi Regime, Imam Khamenei explained, 'The first time I saw him was there. Then after the Revolution, when he served as a Minister, when he was a judge and when he held various positions, we saw each other frequently. He was truly always a source of blessings.'
  6. Bar, Shmuel (2009). "Iranian terrorist policy and "export of revolution"" (PDF). Interdisciplinary Center. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  7. "Senior Iranian Cleric Ayatollah Reyshahri Passes Away". International Quran News Agency. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022. He had been hospitalized in Tehran's Khatam-al- Anbya Hospital and passed away at the early hours of Tuesday at the age of 75.... After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he took several roles in the judiciary branch as head of different courts. He was the first intelligence Minister of the Islamic Republic in 1984. ... Besides teaching in the Qom Seminary, he wrote more than 75 books focused on Islamic teachings.
  8. Künkler, Mirjam (13 May 2009). "The Special Court of the Clergy (Dādgāh-Ye Vizheh-Ye Ruhāniyat) and the Repression of Dissident Clergy in Iran". Social Science Research Network. SSRN 1505542.
  9. Alam, Shah (2000). "Conservatives, liberals and the struggle over Iranian politics". Strategic Analysis. 24 (3): 553–583. doi:10.1080/09700160008455232. S2CID 153684057.
  10. Elton L. Daniel (16 January 2012). The History of Iran. ABC-CLIO. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-313-37510-1. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  11. "1997 Presidential Election", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, retrieved 26 March 2022
  12. "Iran Saudi Arabia ties growing ties: Reyshahri". Mathaba. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  13. "Ayatollah Reyshahri book on "The Wisdom of Christ" published in S. Africa". abna24.com. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
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