Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani

Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani
Mahdavi Kani in 2013
Acting Prime Minister of Iran
In office 2 September 1981 – 29 October 1981
President	Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Mohammad-Javad Bahonar
Succeeded by	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Minister of Interior
In office 20 August 1980 – 1 October 1981
Prime Minister	Mohammad-Ali Rajai Mohammad-Javad Bahonar
Preceded by	Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Succeeded by	Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri
Minister of Justice
In office 12 August 1980 – 20 August 1980
Prime Minister	Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Preceded by	Ahmad Sayyed Javadi
Succeeded by	Assodollah Mobasheri
Chairman of the Assembly of Experts
In office 8 March 2011 – 21 October 2014
Deputy	Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Preceded by	Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Succeeded by	Mohammad Yazdi
Personal details
Born	(1931-08-05)5 August 1931 Kan District, Tehran, Iran
Died	21 October 2014(2014-10-21) (aged 83) Tehran, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Political party	Combatant Clergy Association
Spouse(s)	Nesa Khaton Sorkhei (1960–2014, his death)
Children	Maryam (b. 1961) Mohammad Saeed (b. 1966) Mehdieh (b. 1972)[1]
Alma mater	Qom Seminary
Religion	Shia Islam
Signature
Website	Official website.
Military service
Allegiance	Iran
Service/branch	Revolutionary Committees
Years of service	1979–1982
Commands	Chief Commander of Revolutionary Committees

Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani (Persian: محمدرضا مهدوی کنی ‎‎, 5 August 1931 – 21 October 2014) was an Iranian cleric, writer and conservative politician who was Acting Prime Minister of Iran from 2 September until 29 October 1981. Before that, he was Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice in the cabinets of Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. He was the leader of Combatant Clergy Association and Chairman of the Assembly of Experts and also founder and president of Imam Sadiq University.

On 4 June 2014, Mahdavi Kani was hospitalized in Bahman Hospital and went into a coma after suffering a heart attack. He died on 21 October 2014.^[2]

Early life

Mahdavi Kani was born on 5 August 1931 in the village of Kan, near Tehran.^[3] His father was an Ayatollah and taught in the Mofid School. After he finished basic education in Kan, he studied at Borhan High School in Tehran. He left for Qom in 1947 to study at a religious seminary.^[4] His teachers included Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Reza Golpayegani, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Boroujerdi and Allameh Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei.

He comes back to Tehran in 1961 to teach religious sciences. In that Time, most of clerics participated in protests against Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi known in that Time as “taghoot”. Mahdavi kani also added to these clerics and formed alliance with Ayatollah khoemeini.^[5] Also He imprisoned by Shah three times.^[6]

Career

After the demise of Ayatollah Boroujerdi, Mahdavi Kani went back to Tehran and continued his struggle against the Pahlavi regime, something which he had started since he was 18, during the time of Ayatollah Boroujerdi. He was considerably active and effective in his participation in the Islamic movement of Iran led by Khomeini. Before the Islamic Revolution, he was appointed by Khomeini to the Revolutionary Council and later took up various political and religious positions. He was the leader of the Combatant Clergy Association, which he cofounded in 1977.^[4] Mahdavi Kani refused to join Islamic Republican Party in 1979, because he belived clerics should remain non-partisan.^[7]

He was appointed chief of the Central Provisional Komiteh for the Islamic Revolution that was a body in charge of trials and executions of the civil and military officials of the Pahlavi era.^[8]

He served as the minister of interior in the cabinet of Mohammad-Ali Rajai to succeeding Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He was reappointed as minister of interior in the cabinet of Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. He became the interim prime minister on 2 September 1981 and was in office until 29 October 1981.^[9] He was also chairman of provisional presidential council, after the assassination of president Mohammad Ali Rajai and prime minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar. He has also been a member of the Constitutional Amendment Council of Iran, appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, to review and amend the Constitution of Iran in 1989. He was also elected as member of the assembly in 2008 in a by-election from Tehran.

Mahdavi Kani is the founder and former head of Imam Sadiq University in Tehran, a university specializing in humanities.^[10]

He was elected as chairman of the Assembly of Experts on 8 March 2011 after Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani resigned from office.^[11] In March 2013, he was reelected to the post for further two years.^[11][12]

Illness and death

He was hospitalized for a stroke on Ruhollah Khomeini's death anniversary, which brought him to coma on 4 June 2014.^[13] He was in coma for more than five months and died on 21 October 2014 at the age of 83.^[2] Mahdavi Kani was survived by his three children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Hours after Mahdavi Kani's death, his office announced that his state funeral will be held on 23 October and his body will be buried at Shah-Abdol-Azim shrine.^[14] Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani also announced two days of mourning in his memorial.^[15]

Works

Some of his works published are: The Beginning Points in Practical Ethics; the Origins and Basis of Islamic Economy and the Book of Beest goftar (20 Discourses).

References

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani.

• Interim government of Iran, 1981

Prime Ministers of Iran (List)
Sublime State of Persia (1906–1925)	Nasrullah Khan Vazir-e Afkham Ali-Asghar Khan Atabak Moshir al-Saltaneh Naser al-Molk Mafi Moshir al-Saltaneh Kamran Mirza Sa'd al-Dowleh Tonekaboni Mostowfi Tonekaboni Samsam al-Saltaneh Ala al-Saltaneh Mostowfi Pirnia Majid Mirza Mostowfi Farmanfarma Tonekaboni Vosough Ala al-Saltaneh Majid Mirza Mostowfi Samsam al-Saltaneh Vosough Pirnia Fathollah Khan Akbar Tabatabaee Qavam Pirnia Qavam Mostowfi Pirnia Reza Khan Sardar Sepah
Imperial State of Iran (1925–1979)	Foroughi Mostowfi Hedayat Foroughi Djam Matin-Daftari A.Mansur Foroughi Soheili Qavam Soheili Sa'ed Bayat Hakimi Sadr Hakimi Qavam Hekmat Hakimi Hazhir Sa'ed A.Mansur Razmara Ala' Mosaddegh Qavam Mosaddegh Zahedi Ala' Eghbal Sharif-Emami Amini Alam H.A.Mansur Hoveida Amouzegar Sharif-Emami Azhari Bakhtiar
Islamic Republic of Iran (1979–present)	Bazargan Rajai Bahonar Mahdavi Kani Mousavi Post Abolished (since 1989)