1.
Ruhollah Khomeini
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Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, philosopher, revolutionary and politician. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and he was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June,1989. Khomeini was a marja in Twelver Shia Islam, a Mujtahid or faqih and author of more than 40 books and he spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last Shah. In his writings and preachings he expanded the theory of velayat-e faqih and this principle, was appended to the new Iranian constitution after being put to a referendum. According to New York Times, Khomeini called democracy the equivalent of prostitution, whether Khomeinis ideas are compatible with democracy and whether he intended the Islamic Republic to be democratic is disputed. He was named Man of the Year in 1979 by American news magazine TIME for his international influence, in 1982, Khomeini survived one military coup attempt. Khomeini held the title of Grand Ayatollah and is known as Imam Khomeini inside Iran. He is generally referred to as Ayatollah Khomeini by others, in Iran, his gold-domed tomb in Tehrāns Behesht-e Zahrāʾ cemetery has become a shrine for his supporters, and he is legally considered inviolable, with Iranians regularly punished for insulting him. During their rule they extensively invited, and received, a stream of Persian scholars, poets, jurists, architects. The family eventually settled in the town of Kintoor, just outside Lucknow. Ayatollah Khomeinis paternal grandfather, Seyyed Ahmad Musavi Hindi, was born in Kintoor and he left Lucknow in 1830, on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Ali in Najaf, Ottoman Iraq and never returned. According to Moin, this migration was to escape from the spread of British power in India, in 1834 Seyyed Ahmad Musavi Hindi visited Persia, and in 1839 he settled in Khomein. Although he stayed and settled in Iran, he continued to be known as Hindi, indicating his stay in India, there are also claims that Seyyed Ahmad Musavi Hindi departed from Kashmir, instead of Lucknow. Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, whose name means spirit of God, was born on 22 or 24 September 1902 in Khomeyn, Markazi Province. He was raised by his mother, Hajieh Agha Khanum, and his aunt, Sahebeth, following the murder of his father, Seyed Mostafa Hindi, Ruhollah began to study the Quran and elementary Persian at the age of six. The following year, he began to attend a school, where he learned religion, noheh khani. Throughout his childhood, he continued his religious education with the assistance of his relatives, including his mothers cousin, Jafar, after World War I arrangements were made for him to study at the Islamic seminary in Esfahan, but he was attracted instead to the seminary in Arak. He was placed under the leadership of Ayatollah Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi, in 1920, Khomeini moved to Arak and commenced his studies
2.
Mohammad-Javad Bahonar
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Mohammad Javad Bahonar was a Shia Iranian theologian and politician who served as the Prime minister of Iran for less than one month in August 1981. Bahonar along with members of Mohammad-Ali Rajais government was assassinated by Mujahideen-e Khalq. Mohammad-Javad Bahonar was born on 3 September 1933 in Kerman, Iran and his father was a simple tradesman and had little shop at the Kerman. He was the second children of family and he had eight brothers and sisters. When He was child he could learn Quran in Maktab by a faithful women, also he learned writing and reading. Guiding by Ayatollah Haghighi, he could entered into Masoumieh seminary school, at the same time he could obtain the degree of fifth of ancient school. Bahonar passed his school at Masoomieh School of Kerman. In 1953, he went to Qom Seminary and attended in the class of Ruhollah Khomeini and he received a PhD in theology from the University of Tehran. Also, he was faculty member of the Tehran University and taught religious lessons, Bahonar was a reviler of the Pahlavi dynasty and had activities against Mohammad Reza Shah that led to imprisonment him in 1963,1964, and 1975. On 1963, he was jailed for opposing the Shahs White Revolution, also, during exile of Khomeini in Iraq and France, he continued his revolutionary activities and was an influential member among Khomeinis followers. Bahonar along with Morteza Motahari was active speaker of Hosseiniyeh Ershad, after the revolution Bahonar became a founding member of the Islamic Republican party and an original member of the Council of Revolution of Iran. He was also appointed minister of education on March 1981, also, he was member of Assembly of Experts. Bahonar along with Mohammad Ali Rajai purging Iranian universities of western cultural influences which known as the Islamic Cultural Revolution, after the assassination of Mohammad Beheshti on 28 June 1981, he was appointed general secretary of the party where he was also a member of the central committee. Bahonar served as the minister of culture and Islamic guidance under Mohammad Ali Rajais prime ministry from March 1981 to August 1981, when Rajai became president on 5 August 1981, he chose Bahonar as his prime minister. Bahonar was assassinated along with Rajai and other members of Islamic Republican Party when a bomb exploded at the office in Tehran on 30 August 1981. In Iran, this known as Hafte Tir bombing. When one of the opened a briefcase, the explosion happened. The briefcase was carried by Massoud Keshmiri, a security official at the Islamic Republican Party, one week later, Keshmiri was announced as responsible for planning of the explosion. Keshmiri was identified as an operative of Mujahedin that supported by Saddam Hussein and he tried to assassinated Rajai and Bahonar on 22 August when Rajai introduced his cabinet to Ruhollah Khomeini
3.
Mohammad Beheshti
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Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the revolution. Dr. Beheshti is considered to have been the architect of Irans post-revolution constitution. Beheshti was assassinated along with more than 70 members of the Islamic Republic Party on 28 June 1981, Beheshti also served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Republic Party, and was the head of the Iranian judicial system. He further served as Chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution, Beheshti earned a Ph. D. in Philosophy, and was fluent in English, German and Arabic. Following his death, Ayatollah Khomeini referred to Beheshti as a person who was as a nation for us, Beheshti was born in Isfahan in 1928. He studied both at the University of Tehran and under Allameh Tabatabaei in Qom, between 1965 and 1970, he led the Islamic Center in Hamburg where he was responsible for the spiritual leadership of religious Iranian students in Germany and Western Europe. In Hamburg, he worked with Mohammad Khatami and was among his influences. Since the early 1960s, he was involved in activities against the monarchy and was arrested several times by the Shahs secret police, Beheshti joined Ayatollah Khomeini in Najaf, Iraq, where the latter was in exile. There he became part of Khomeinis underground movement, following the Islamic Revolution, he became one of the original members of the Council of Revolution of Iran and soon its chairman. As vice-president, he played an important role in promoting the principle of velayat-e faqih as the basis for the new constitution. In the first post-revolutionary Iranian parliament, he led the Islamic Republic party together with Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, behesti was the founding member, first general secretary and a central committee member of the party. Beheshti died in an attack on 28 June 1981, when a bomb exploded during a party conference, the Islamic Republic at first claimed the bomb was planted by the Tudeh Party, then by the Peoples Mujahedin of Iran organization. The assassin was identified, per the official version, as Mohammad Reza Kolahi, along with Beheshti, many clerics, ministers, and officials also died. Ayatollah Khomeini was very moved by his death, during the excavations of the bodies of the bombing victims, Khomeini was walking calmly in the garden of his house. Regularly his trustees would update the Ayatollah with new information on the death toll, but when they told Khomeini about the possible death of Ayatollah Beheshti, Khomeini turned around, put his hands on his back and showed some signs of affection. The Iranian nation is proud of presenting such persons who devoted themselves in the way of Islam, some of his works were translated into Arabic. Behesti had an important role in writing the constitution of Iran and he believed in cooperative companies in the field of economy and partnership and co-operation in lieu of competition in economic affairs. According to him, in Taavoni companies there is no mediation between producer and consumer and he also asserts that in such as companies, rights belong to humans rather than stocks
4.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
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He was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011 when he decided not to nominate himself for the post. He was also the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, during the final years of Iran–Iraq War Rafsanjani was the de facto commander-in-chief of the Iranian military. Rafsanjani was elected chairman of the Iranian parliament in 1980 and served until 1989 and he played an important role in the choice of Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader. Rafsanjani became president of Iran after winning the 1989 election and he served another term by winning the election in 1993. In the 2005 election he ran for a term in office, placing first in the first round of elections. He and his family faced political isolation for their support of the opposition in 2009, Rafsanjani entered the race for the 2013 presidential election, but he was disqualified by the Guardian Council. With Hassan Rouhanis election, in which Rafsanjani openly supported him, Rafsanjani died following a heart attack on 8 January 2017 in a hospital in Tehran at the age of 82. Rafsanjani has been described as having been a pragmatic Islamic conservative, the Economist called him a veteran kingmaker. He was also founder and one of the Board of Trustees of Azad University, in 2003, Forbes estimated his personal wealth to be in excess of USD$1 billion. Rafsanjani was born on 25 August 1934 in the village of Bahreman near the Persian city of Rafsanjan in Kerman Province and his father, Mirza Ali Hashemi Behramani, was one of Kermans famous businessmen and a Pistachio merchant. His mother, Hajie Khanom Mahbibi Hashemi, died at the age of 90 on 21 December 1995, one of his brothers, Mohammad Hashemi is the former director of IRIB. Rafsanjani did not see himself as a peasant from childhood, according to family members and he left at the age of 14 to study theology in Qom. There he became acquainted with the ideas of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, when he was studying at Qom Seminary, he became interested in politics under Ruhollah Khomeini. He was one of the opposition of Mohammad Reza Shahs White Revolution, with Khomeinis exile, Hashemis role in the fight against the Shah and representing Khomeini in the country was highlighted. This opposition eventually led to his arrest and imprisonment and he was arrested for 7 times from 1960 until 1979 and was in jail for four years and 5 months in total in crime of clandestine activities against Pahlavi regime. Despite anti-Western attitude of revolutionaries, he had traveled to 20 states of the United States, although individual major pre-revolutionary speeches against Shah regime, But Khomeini acted him as financial manager of revolutionary struggle as well as connector with other revolutionary groups. Among the groups that had a bond with Hashemi, was the Islamic Coalition Party. This communication was another reason for his arrest, in prison, he found the opportunity to become familiar with other groups opposed to the Shah
5.
Ali Khamenei
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Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei is a marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran. Khamenei succeeded the first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, after Khomeinis death and his political career began after the Iranian Revolution, when the former President of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then a confidant of Khomeini, brought Khamenei into Khomeinis inner circle. Khamenei then went to serve as President of Iran from 1981 to 1989 while becoming an ally to Khomeini. Today, as Supreme Leader, Khamenei is the head of state of Iran, for this reason, he is considered the most powerful political authority in the country. For example, in August 2016, Khamenei directly warned the current president Hassan Rouhani that there should be no deviation from Khameneis economic policies, the report said that it found no evidence that Khamenei is tapping Setad to enrich himself. As president, he had a reputation of being interested in the military, budget and administrative details. Comparatively, Khamenei is the second longest head of state in the Middle East as well as the second longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Khamenei has either direct or indirect control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and media. All candidates to the Assembly of Experts, the President and the Majlis, are vetted by the Guardian Council, there have been also instances when the Guardian Council reversed its ban of particular people after being ordered to do so by Khamenei. Khamenei has also fired and reinstated Presidential cabinet appointments, Irans Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani, a Khamenei appointee, has warned the president of Iran against voicing opposition to Khamenei. There have been several protests during Khameneis reign, including the 1994 Qazvin Protests. Khamenei asked to maximize the amount of transparency in elections in Iran, Khamenei was the victim of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralysed his right arm. According to his website, Khamenei was arrested six times before being sent into exile for three years during Mohammad Reza Pahlavis reign. Regarding controversial Nuclear program of Iran, Ali Khamenei had issued a fatwa saying that the production, stockpiling, born to Seyyed Javad Khamenei and Khadijeh Mirdamadi in Mashhad, Khamenei is the second of eight children. Two of his brothers are also clerics and his brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a renowned newspaper editor. His elder sister Fatemeh Hosseini Khamenei died in 2015, at age 89 and his descendancy is of ethnic Azerbaijani background, with one source claiming that his mother was an ethnic Persian-speaker from Yazd. Some of his ancestors are from Tafresh in todays Markazi Province, then, he went to Najaf in 1957, but soon returned back to Mashhad due to his fathers unwillingness to let him stay there. In 1958, he settled in Qom where he attended the classes of Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, Khamenei married a woman named Khojaste in 1964
6.
Tehran
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Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area, in the Classical era, part of the present-day city of Tehran was occupied by a Median city that in the Avesta occurs as Rhaga. It was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century, the capital has been moved several times throughout the history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran. The city was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last imperial dynasties of Iran. It is home to historical collections, such as the royal complexes of Golestan, Sadabad. Large scale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920s, and Tehran has been a destination for the migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century. Tabiat Bridge, which was completed in 2014, is considered the third symbol of the city. There have been plans to relocate Irans capital from Tehran to another area, due mainly to air pollution, to date, no definitive plans have been approved. A2016 survey of 230 cities by consultant Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality of living, according to the Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran is among the top ten fastest growing destinations. The origin of the name Tehran is uncertain, the settlement of Tehran dates back over 7,000 years. The present-day city of Tehran was a suburb of an important Median city that was known as Rhaga in Old Persian, in the Avestas Videvdat, Rhaga is mentioned as the twelfth sacred place created by the Ohrmazd. In Old Persian inscriptions, Rhaga appears as a province and it was a major area for the Iranian tribes of Medes and Achaemenids. From Rhaga, Darius the Great sent reinforcements to his father Hystaspes, in some Middle Persian texts, Rhaga is given as the birthplace of Zoroaster, although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in Khorasan. Derived into Modern Persian as Rey, it now as a city located towards the southern end of the modern-day city of Tehran. Mount Damavand, the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in Ferdowsis Shahname, the long Iranian epic poem that is based on the ancient epics of Iran. It appears in the epics as the birthplace of Manuchehr, the residence of Keyumars, the place where Freydun binds the dragon fiend Aži Dahāka, during the Sassanid era, in 641, Yazdgerd III issued his last appeal to the nation from Rey, before fleeing to Khorasan. Rey was dominated by the Parthian Mihran family, and Siyavakhsh—the son of Mihran the son of Bahram Chobin—who resisted the Muslim Invasion, because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rey, they ordered the town to be destroyed and ordered Farrukhzad to rebuild the town anew. In the 9th century, Tehran was a well known village, but less known than the city of Rey, the medieval writer Najm od Din Razi declared the population of Rey about 500,000 before the Mongol Invasion
7.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
8.
Islamic Republican (newspaper)
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Jomhouri-e Eslami is an official Iranian newspaper, which started its work on 30 May 1979, as the newspaper of Islamic Republic Party. In the beginning it was under the grantee of Islamic Republic Party, even after the closure of Islamic Republic Party, the Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper continued its work. As of 2013 the paper was described as close to Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani
9.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
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Whereas the regular military defends Irans borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard is intended to protect the countrys Islamic system. The Revolutionary Guards state that their role in protecting the Islamic system is preventing foreign interference as well as coups by the military or deviant movements, the Revolutionary Guards have roughly 125,000 military personnel including ground, aerospace and naval forces. Its naval forces are now the primary forces tasked with operational control of the Persian Gulf and it also controls the paramilitary Basij militia which has about 90,000 active personnel. Its media arm is Sepah News, since its origin as an ideologically driven militia, the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has taken an ever more assertive role in virtually every aspect of Iranian society. The Chief Commander of the Guardians is Mohammad Ali Jafari, who was preceded by Yahya Rahim Safavi. Sepāh has a connotation of soldiers, while in modern Persian it is also used to describe a corps sized unit. Pāsdārān is the form of Pāsdār, which means Guardian. Members of Sepah are known as Pāsdār, which is also their title, the Iranian Government, media, and those who identify with the organization generally use Sepāh e Pāsdārān, although it is not uncommon to hear Pāsdārān-e Enqelāb, or simply Pāsdārān as well. It should be noted though that among the Iranian population, and especially among diaspora Iranians, most foreign governments and the English-speaking mass media tend to use the term Iranian Revolutionary Guards or simply the Revolutionary Guards. In the US media, the force is frequently referred to interchangeably as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US government standard is Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while the United Nations uses Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The forces main role is in national security and it is responsible for internal and border security, law enforcement, and also Irans missile forces. IRGC operations are geared towards asymmetric warfare and less traditional duties and these include the control of smuggling, control of the Strait of Hormuz, and resistance operations. The IRGC is intended to complement the traditional role of the regular Iranian military. The IRGC is a combined force with its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence. It also controls the Basij militia, the Basij is a volunteer-based force, with 90,000 regular soldiers and 300,000 reservists. The IRGC is officially recognized as a component of the Iranian military under Article 150 of the Iranian Constitution and it is separate from, and parallel to, the other arm of Irans military, which is called Artesh. Especially in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the IRGC is expected to control of any Iranian response to attacks on its nuclear facilities. From the beginning of the new Islamic government, the Pasdaran functioned as a corps of the faithful, days after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeinis return to Tehran on 1 February 1979, the Bazargan interim administration established the Pasdaran under a decree issued by Khomeini on 5 May
10.
Islamism
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Islamism is a concept whose meaning has been debated in both public and academic contexts. It is commonly used interchangeably with the terms political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism and these movements have arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence, redefining politics and even borders according to Robin Wright. Some authors hold the term Islamic activism to be synonymous and preferable to Islamism, Central and prominent figures of modern Islamism include Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Maududi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. Some Islamist thinkers emphasize peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, however, Qutb, unlike modern extremists, denounced the killing of innocents. Following the Arab Spring, some Islamist currents became heavily involved in politics, while others spawned the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia to date. A theocratic ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society by law, subsequently, clarified to be, the desire to impose any given interpretation of Islam on society. A movement so broad and flexible it reaches out to everything to everyone in Islam, making it unsustainable. and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals. All who seek to Islamize their environment, whether in relation to their lives in society, their circumstances, or the workplace. Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has gained political influence through military coup détats in the past. The Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in the democratic, following the Arab Spring, Roy has described Islamism as increasingly interdependent with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that neither can now survive without the other. While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy, at the same time, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups. The term, which denoted the religion of Islam, first appeared in English as Islamismus in 1696. The term appears in the U. S. Supreme Court decision in In Re Ross, the term Islamism acquired its contemporary connotations in French academia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From French, it began to migrate to the English language in the mid-1980s, a 2003 article in Middle East Quarterly states, In summation, the term Islamism enjoyed its first run, lasting from Voltaire to the First World War, as a synonym for Islam. Enlightened scholars and writers generally preferred it to Mohammedanism, eventually both terms yielded to Islam, the Arabic name of the faith, and a word free of either pejorative or comparative associations. To all intents and purposes, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism have become synonyms in contemporary American usage, the AP Stylebook entry for Islamist now reads as follows, An advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam. Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals, where possible, be specific and use the name of militant affiliations, al-Qaida-linked, Hezbollah, Taliban, etc
11.
Political thought and legacy of Ruhollah Khomeini
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Khomeinism is the founding ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Vali Nasr, outside of Iran, Khomeinis influence has been felt among the large Shia populations of Iraq and Lebanon. In the non-Muslim world, Khomeini had a impact on the West and even Western popular culture where it is said he became the virtual face of Islam who inculcated fear. Ayatollah Khomeini was a senior Islamic jurist cleric of Shia Islam, Shia theology holds that Wilayah or Islamic leadership belongs to divinely-appointed line of Shia Imams descended from the Prophet Muhammad, the last of which is the 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi. The God-given knowledge and sense of justice of the Imams makes them the definitive reference for Muslims in every aspect of life, religious or otherwise, including governance. However, the twelfth Imam disappeared into what Shia believe is occultation in 939 AD and so has not been present to rule over the Muslim community for over thousand years. Shia jurists have tended to stick to one of three approaches to the state, cooperating with it, becoming active in politics to influence its policies, or most commonly, clerical political influence was institutionalized during the Safavid Empire about 500 years ago. Shirazi issued the fatwa against the usage of tobacco as part of the Tobacco Protest. Without the decrees, sermons, interviews, and political pronouncements there would have been no Khomeinism, without Khomeinism there would have been no revolution. And without the Islamic Revolution, Khomeini would have no more than a footnote to Iranian history. Outside of his beliefs, Khomeini has also been noted for being a brilliant tactician. Khomeini once protested the shahs enfranchisement of women, and then encouraged women to participate in his revolution and he once promised that clerics would hold only temporary positions in government and then allowed them to hold the most senior positions. He pledged to continue the war against Iraq until its defeat and he once said that the fact that I have said something does not mean that I should be bound by my word. Indeed, it is that suppleness, that ability to improvise that has outlived Khomeini, at least one scholar has argued that Khomeinis ability to swing from one religiopolitical. Perspective to another has been exploited by followers to advance their various, in particular reformists such as Muhammad Khatami in search of more democracy and less theocracy. Another argues that Khomeinis ideological adaptability belie the label of fundamentalist applied to him in both the West and in Iran, as to how jurists should influence governance, Ayatollah Khomeinis leadership changed direction over time as his views on governance evolved. Suggesting a parliament of Shia jurists could choose a just king, later he told his followers that Islam proclaims monarchy and hereditary succession wrong and invalid. Only rule by a leading Islamic jurist would prevent innovation in Sharia or Islamic law, the need for this governance of the faqih was necessary and self-evident to good Muslims
12.
Theocracy
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Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity is the source from which all authority derives. The Oxford English Dictionary has this definition,1, a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god. The commonwealth of Israel from the time of Moses until the election of Saul as King, an ecclesiocracy is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler, religiously endorsed monarchies fall between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs. Most forms of theocracy are oligarchic in nature, involving rule of the many by the few, some of whom so anointed under claim of divine commission. In some religions, the ruler, usually a king, was regarded as the favorite of God who could not be questioned, sometimes even being the descendant of. Today, there is also a form of government where clerics have the power, taken literally or strictly, theocracy means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal rule of the heart, especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, in a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a personal connection with the civilizations religion or belief. For example, Moses led the Israelites, and Muhammad led the early Muslims, there is a fine line between the tendency of appointing religious characters to run the state and having a religious-based government. According to the Holy Books, Prophet Joseph was offered an essential governmental role just because he was trustworthy, wise and knowledgeable. As a result of the Prophet Josephs knowledge and also due to his ethical and genuine efforts during a critical economic situation, when religions have a holy book, it is used as a direct message from God. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, as to the Prophet Muhammad ruling, The first thirteen of the Prophets twenty-three year career went on totally apolitical and non-violent. Yet, interestingly, the Prophet did not establish a theocracy in Medina, instead of a polity defined solely by Islam, he founded a territorial polity based on religious pluralism. This is evident in a document called the ’Charter of Medina’, according to the Quran, Prophets were not after power or material resources. ”While, in theocracy many aspects of the holy book are overshadowed by material powers. Due to be considered divine, the regime entitles itself to interpret verses to its own benefit and abuse them out of the context for its political aims. An ecclesiocracy, on the hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler, religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs. Theocracy is distinguished from other, secular forms of government that have a religion, or are influenced by theological or moral concepts
13.
Populism
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Populism is a political doctrine that proposes that the common people are exploited by a privileged elite, and which seeks to resolve this. The underlying ideology of populists can be left, right, or center and its goal is uniting the uncorrupt and the unsophisticated little man against the corrupt dominant elites and their camp of followers. It is guided by the belief that political and social goals are best achieved by the actions of the masses. Political parties and politicians often use the terms populist and populism as pejoratives against their opponents, such a view sees populism as demagogy, merely appearing to empathize with the public through rhetoric or unrealistic proposals in order to increase appeal across the political spectrum. Populism is most common in democratic nations, historically, academic definitions of populism vary, and people have often used the term in loose and inconsistent ways to reference appeals to the people, demagogy, and catch-all politics. The term has also used as a label for new parties whose classifications are unclear. In recent years, academic scholars have produced definitions that facilitate populist identification and comparison, in the United States and Latin America, populism has generally been associated with the left, whereas in European countries, populism is more associated with the right. In both, the tenet of populism—that democracy should reflect the pure and undiluted will of the people—means it can sit easily with ideologies of both right and left. Cas Mudde says, Many observers have noted that populism is inherent to representative democracy, after all, most recently, many observers have categorized the rise of Donald Trump in the U. S. and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines as populist in nature. Populism has taken left-wing, right-wing, and even centrist forms, as well as forms of politics that bring together groups and individuals of diverse partisan views. The use of populist rhetoric in the United States has recently included references such as the trial lawyer lobby. Subsistence peasant movements, such as the Eastern European Green Rising militias, intellectuals who romanticize hard-working farmers and peasants and build radical agrarian movements like the Russian narodniki. Populist democracy, including calls for political participation through reforms such as the use of popular referenda. Politicians populism marked by non-ideological appeals for the people to build a unified coalition, reactionary populism, such as the white backlash harvested by George Wallace. Populist dictatorship, such as established by Getúlio Vargas in Brazil. Scholars have argued that populist elements have appeared in authoritarian movements. Conspiracist scapegoating employed by various populist movements can create a seedbed for fascism, National Socialist populism interacted with and facilitated fascism in interwar Germany. In this case, distressed middle–class populists mobilized their anger against the government, the Nazis parasitized the forms and themes of the populists and moved their constituencies far to the right through ideological appeals involving demagoguery, scapegoating, and conspiracism
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Anti-imperialism
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A less common usage is by isolationists who oppose an interventionist foreign policy. The phrase gained a wide currency after the Second World War, some anti-imperialist groups who opposed the United States supported the power of the Soviet Union, such as in Guevarism, while in Maoism, this was criticized as social imperialism. In the Arab and Muslim world, the term is used in the context of anti-Zionist nationalist. In the late 1870s, the term Imperialism was introduced to the English language by opponents of the imperial policies of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. It was shortly appropriated by supporters of such as Joseph Chamberlain. For some, imperialism designated a policy of idealism and philanthropy, others alleged that it was characterized by political self-interest, John A. Hobson and Lenin added a more theoretical macroeconomic connotation to the term. Many theoreticians on the left have followed either or both in emphasizing the structural or systemic character of imperialism. As the application of the term has expanded, its meaning has shifted along five distinct but often parallel axes, the moral, the economic, the systemic, the cultural, and the temporal. Those changes reflect—among other shifts in sensibility—a growing unease with the fact of power, specifically, J. A. Hobson said that domestic social reforms could cure the international disease of imperialism by removing its economic foundation. Hobson theorized that state intervention through taxation could boost broader consumption, create wealth, conversely, should the state not intervene, rentiers would generate socially negative wealth that fostered imperialism and protectionism. An early use of the term anti-imperialist occurred after the United States entered the Spanish–American War in 1898, most activists supported the war itself but opposed the annexation of new territory, especially the Philippines. The Anti-Imperialist League was founded on June 15,1898 in Boston, in opposition of the acquisition of the Philippines, the anti-imperialists opposed the expansion because they believed imperialism violated the credo of republicanism, especially the need for consent of the governed. British anti-imperialism emerged in the 1890s, especially in the Liberal Party, the key impetus around 1900 came from public disgust with the British failures and atrocities connected with the Second Boer War. The War was fought against the Afrikaners, who were Dutch immigrants who had built new nations in South Africa, opposition to the Second Boer War was modest when the war began, and was always less widespread than support for it, let alone the prevailing indifference. However, influential groups formed immediately and ineffectually against the war, including the South African Conciliation Committee, much of the opposition in Britain came from the Liberal party. Intellectuals and activists Britain based in the Socialist, labour, and Fabian movements generally oppose imperialism, and John Hobson, after the Boer war, opponents of imperialism turn their attention to the British colonies in Africa and Asia. By the 1920s, the government was sponsoring large-scale exhibits promoting imperialism, notably the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London, some intellectuals use the opportunity to criticize imperialism as a policy. Moderately active anti-imperial movements emerged in Canada and Australia, the French-Canadians were hostile to the British expansion, while, in Australia it was the Irish Catholics who were opposed
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Anti-communism
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Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. It reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States, anti-communism has been an element of movements of many different positions, including capitalist, liberal, socialist, anarchist, and fascist viewpoints. They accuse communists of causing several famines, such as the Russian Famine of 1921, some anti-communists see both communism and fascism as totalitarianism, seeing similarity between the actions of communist and fascist governments. Opponents argue that communist parties that have come to power have tended to be intolerant of political opposition. Communist states have also accused of creating a new ruling class, with powers. Examples of left-wing critics of Communist states and parties are Boris Souveraine, Bayard Rustin, Irving Howe, the American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-Communist. The more leftist CIO purged its Communists in 1947 and has been staunchly anti-Communist ever since, in Britain, the Labour Party strenuously resisted Communist efforts to infiltrate its ranks and take control of locals in the 1930s. Although some anarchists describe themselves as communists, all anarchists criticize authoritarian Communist parties and states and they argue that Marxist concepts such as dictatorship of the proletariat and state ownership of the means of production are anathema to anarchism. Some anarchists criticize communism from an individualist point of view, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin debated with Karl Marx in the First International, arguing that the Marxist state is another form of oppression. He loathed the idea of a vanguard party ruling the masses from above, anarchists initially participated in, and rejoiced over, the 1917 revolution as an example of workers taking power for themselves. However, after the October revolution, it became evident that the Bolsheviks, what is needed is local construction by local forces … Russia has already become a Soviet Republic only in name. Many anarchists fought against Russian, Spanish and Greek Communists, many were killed by them, such as Lev Chernyi, Camillo Berneri, neither Marxs 10-point plan nor the rest of the manifesto say anything about who has the right to carry out the plan. Milton Friedman argued that the absence of economic activity makes it too easy for repressive political leaders to grant themselves coercive powers. Friedmans view was shared by Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. Objectivists who follow Ayn Rand are strongly anti-Communist and this is demonstrated, they believe, by the comparative prosperity of free market and socialist economies. Objectivist Ayn Rand writes that communist leaders typically claim to work for the common good, many ex-communists have turned into anti-communists. Mikhail Gorbachev turned from a Communist into a social democrat, milovan Đilas, was a former Yugoslav Communist official, who became a prominent dissident and critic of Communism. Leszek Kołakowski was a Polish Communist who became a famous anti-communist, the God That Failed is a 1949 book which collects together six essays with the testimonies of a number of famous ex-Communists, who were writers and journalists
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Free market
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Another view considers systems with significant market power, inequality of bargaining power, or information asymmetry to be less than free. It is a result of a need being, then the need being met, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy. Others believe regulation might be part of a market, if the regulation is necessary to control significant market power, inequality of bargaining power. The latter view implies a free market is not necessarily deregulated, although some of those with the former belief speak of free markets, friedrich Hayek argued in The Pure Theory of Capital that the goal is the preservation of the unique information contained in the price itself. The definition of free market has been disputed and made complex by collectivist political philosophers, during the marginal revolution, subjective value theory was rediscovered. Various forms of socialism based on free markets have existed since the 19th century, early notable socialist proponents of free markets include Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Benjamin Tucker, and the Ricardian socialists. These economists believed that free markets and voluntary exchange could not exist within the exploitative conditions of capitalism. Advocates of free-market socialism such as Jaroslav Vanek argue that free markets are not possible under conditions of private ownership of productive property. Socialists also point out that free market capitalism leads to excessive disparities in the distribution of income, corporate monopolies run rampant in free markets, with endless agency over the consumer. Thus, free market capitalism desires government regulation of markets to prevent social instability and this implies that economic rents, i. e. profits generated from lack of perfect competition, must be reduced or eliminated as much as possible through free competition. Economic theory suggests the returns to land and other resources are economic rents that cannot be reduced in such a way because of their perfect inelastic supply. Some economic thinkers emphasize the need to share those rents as a requirement for a well functioning market. It is suggested this would eliminate the need for regular taxes that have a negative effect on trade as well as release land. Two features that improve the competition and free market mechanisms, winston Churchill supported this view by his statement Land is the mother of all monopoly. The American economist and social philosopher Henry George, the most famous proponent of this thesis, followers of his ideas are often called Georgists or Geoists and Geolibertarians. Léon Walras, one of the founders of the neoclassical economics who helped formulate the general theory, had a very similar view. He argued that competition could only be realized under conditions of state ownership of natural resources. Additionally, income taxes could be eliminated because the state would receive income to public services through owning such resources and enterprises
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Political spectrum
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A political spectrum is a system of classifying different political positions upon one or more geometric axes that symbolize independent political dimensions. Most long-standing spectra include a wing and left wing, which originally referred to seating arrangements in the French parliament after the Revolution. According to the simplest left–right axis, communism and socialism are usually regarded internationally as being on the left, liberalism can mean different things in different contexts, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right. Those with an intermediate outlook are classified as centrists or moderates, politics that rejects the conventional left–right spectrum is known as syncretic politics. Political scientists have noted that a single left–right axis is insufficient for describing the existing variation in political beliefs. As seen from the Speakers seat at the front of the Assembly, the aristocracy sat on the right, originally, the defining point on the ideological spectrum was the Ancien Régime. The Right thus implied support for aristocratic or royal interests, and the church, while The Left implied support for republicanism, secularism, and civil liberties. Because the political franchise at the start of the revolution was relatively narrow, the original Left represented mainly the interests of the bourgeoisie and their political interests in the French Revolution lay with opposition to the aristocracy, and so they found themselves allied with the early capitalists. However, this did not mean that their interests lay with the laissez-faire policies of those representing them politically. As capitalist economies developed, the aristocracy became less relevant and were replaced by capitalist representatives. This evolution has often pulled parliamentary politicians away from laissez-faire economic policies, for almost a century, social scientists have considered the problem of how best to describe political variation. In 1950, Leonard W. Submitting the results to factor analysis and this system was derived empirically, rather than devising a political model on purely theoretical grounds and testing it, Fergusons research was exploratory. As a result of method, care must be taken in the interpretation of Fergusons three factors, as factor analysis will output an abstract factor whether an objectively real factor exists or not. Although replication of the Nationalism factor was inconsistent, the finding of Religionism and Humanitarianism had a number of replications by Ferguson, shortly afterward, Hans Eysenck began researching political attitudes in Great Britain. He believed that there was something similar about the National Socialists on the one hand. Submitting this value questionnaire to the process of factor analysis used by Ferguson. Such analysis produces a factor whether or not it corresponds to a real-world phenomenon, Eysencks dimensions of R and T were found by factor analyses of values in Germany and Sweden, France, and Japan. According to Eysenck, members of both ideologies were tough-minded, in this context, Eysenck carried out studies on nazism and communist groups, claiming to find members of both groups to be more dominant and more aggressive than control groups
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Right-wing politics
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Hierarchy and inequality may be viewed as natural results of traditional social differences or the competition in market economies. The term right-wing can generally refer to the conservative or reactionary section of a party or system. The original Right in France was formed as a reaction against the Left, and comprised those politicians supporting hierarchy, tradition, the use of the expression la droite became prominent in France after the restoration of the monarchy in 1815, when it was applied to the Ultra-royalists. The people of English-speaking countries did not apply the terms right, from the 1830s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from nobility and aristocracy towards capitalism. This general economic shift toward capitalism affected centre right movements such as the British Conservative Party, in the United States, the Right includes both economic and social conservatives. The nobility, members of the Second Estate, generally sat to the right, in the successive legislative assemblies, monarchists who supported the Ancien Régime were commonly referred to as rightists because they sat on the right side. A major figure on the right was Joseph de Maistre, who argued for a form of conservatism. Throughout the 19th century, the line dividing Left and Right in France was between supporters of the republic and supporters of the monarchy. In British politics, the right and left came into common use for the first time in the late 1930s in debates over the Spanish Civil War. The meaning of right-wing varies across societies, historical epochs, and political systems, according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, in liberal democracies, the political Right opposes socialism and social democracy. Right-wing parties include conservatives, Christian democrats, classical liberals, nationalists and, on the far Right, Roger Eatwell and Neal OSullivan divide the Right into five types, reactionary, moderate, radical, extreme, and new. Chip Berlet argues that each of these styles of thought are responses to the left, including liberalism and socialism, the reactionary right looks toward the past and is aristocratic, religious and authoritarian. Often the moderate right promotes nationalism and social welfare policies, radical right is a term developed after World War II to describe groups and ideologies such as McCarthyism, the John Birch Society, Thatcherism, and the Republikaner Party. Eatwell stresses that use has major typological problems and that the term has also been applied to clearly democratic developments. The radical right includes right-wing populism and various other subtypes, Eatwell argues that the extreme right has four traits, 1) anti-democracy, 2) nationalism, 3) racism, and 4) the strong state. The New Right consists of the conservatives, who stress small government, free markets. Other authors make a distinction between the centre-right and the far right, parties of the centre-right generally support liberal democracy, capitalism, the market economy, private property rights, and a limited welfare state. They support conservatism and economic liberalism, and oppose socialism and communism, typical examples of leaders to whom the far right label is often applied are Francisco Franco in Spain and Augusto Pinochet in Chile
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Left-wing politics
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Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. The term left wing can also refer to the radical, reforming, use of the term Left became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815 when it was applied to the Independents. The word wing was appended to Left and Right in the late 19th century, usually with disparaging intent, throughout the 19th century in France, the main line dividing left and right was between supporters of the French Republic and those of the Monarchy. The June Days Uprising during the Second Republic was an attempt by the Left to assert itself after the 1848 Revolution, in the mid-19th century, nationalism, socialism, democracy, and anti-clericalism became features of the French Left. After Napoleon IIIs 1851 coup and the subsequent establishment of the Second Empire, Marxism began to rival radical republicanism, the influential Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, published in 1848, asserted that all human history is the history of class struggle. They predicted that a revolution would eventually overthrow bourgeois capitalism and create a classless, stateless. It was in period that the word wing was appended to both Left and Right. Following a split between supporters of Marx and Mikhail Bakunin, anarchists formed the International Workers Association, the Second International became divided over the issue of World War I. Those who opposed the war, such as Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg, in the United States after Reconstruction, the phrase the Left was used to describe those who supported trade unions, the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. More recently in the United States, left-wing and right-wing have often used as synonyms for Democratic and Republican. Since the Right was populist, both in the Western and the Eastern Bloc, anything viewed as art was called leftist in all Europe. The following positions are typically associated with left-wing politics, during the industrial revolution, leftists supported trade unions. At the beginning of the 20th century, many leftists advocated strong government intervention in the economy, leftists continue to criticize what they perceive as the exploitative nature of globalization, the race to the bottom, and unjust lay-offs. Other leftists believe in Marxian economics, which are based on the theories of Karl Marx. Marxian economics does not exclusively rely upon Marx, it draws from a range of Marxist and non-Marxist sources, the political relevance of farmers has divided the left. In Das Kapital, Marx scarcely mentioned the subject, Mao Zedong believed that it would be rural peasants, not urban workers, who would bring about the proletarian revolution. Both Karl Marx and the early socialist William Morris arguably had a concern for environmental matters, according to Marx, Even an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together. Are not owners of the earth and they are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations
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Far-right politics
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Far-right politics are right-wing politics further on the right of the left-right spectrum than the standard political right. Far-right politics often involve a focus on tradition, real or imagined, as opposed to policies, right-wing populism, a political ideology often combines laissez-faire, nationalism, ethnocentrism and anti-elitism is often described as far-right. Right-wing populism often involves appeals to common man and opposition to immigration, far-right politics include but are not limited to aspects of authoritarianism, anti-communism, and nativism. Claims that superior people should proportionally have greater rights than people are sometimes associated with the far right. The far right has historically favoured an elitist society based on its belief in the legitimacy of the rule of a supposed superior minority over the inferior masses. However, right-wing populist ideologies which are described by commentators as far-right often use appeals to the common man as opposed to the appeals of the elites. Far-right politics sometimes involves anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are deemed inferior, hence, far right politics is associated with Othering. According to Christina Liang, this field is especially peculiar about its terminology. Each label carries with it a specific understanding of family of political parties as well as a particular set of assumptions regarding their origins. In an extensive survey of the literature, academic Cas Mudde found 26 definitions of right-wing extremism that contained 57 different ideological features, there is also debate about how appropriate the labels fascist or neo-Fascist are. Mudde lists nativism, authoritarianism, and populism as core elements of populist radical right political parties, in the United States, the term hard right and Alt-right have been used to describe groups such as the Tea Party movement and the Patriot movement. The term has also used to describe ideologies such as Paleoconservatism, Dominion Theology. The German political scientist Klaus von Beyme describes three phases in the development of far-right parties in Western Europe after World War II. From 1945 to the mid-1950s, far-right parties were marginalised, and their ideologies were discredited due to the recent existence and defeat of Nazism. Thus in the immediately following World War II, the main objective of far-right parties was survival. From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the so-called populist protest phase emerged with sporadic electoral success, the most common demand-side theories are the social breakdown thesis, the relative deprivation thesis, the modernisation losers thesis and the ethnic competition thesis. The rise of political parties has also been viewed as a rejection of post-materialist values on the part of some voters. This theory which is known as the reverse post-material thesis blames both left-wing and progressive parties for embracing a post-material agenda that alienates traditional working class voters, another study argues that individuals who join far-right parties determine whether those parties develop into major political players or whether they remain marginalized
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Religion
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Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
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Shia Islam
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Shia is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor, instead they consider Abu Bakr to be the correct Caliph. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias of Ali, Shias or the Shia as a collective or Shii individually, Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam, in 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10–13% of the worlds Muslim population. Twelver Shia is the largest branch of Shia Islam, in 2012 it was estimated that perhaps 85 percent of Shias were Twelvers. Shia Islam is based on the Quran and the message of Muhammad attested in hadith, Shia consider Ali to have been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The word Shia means follower and is the form of the historic phrase shīʻatu ʻAlī, meaning followers of Ali, faction of Ali. Shia and Shiism are forms used in English, while Shiite or Shiite, as well as Shia, the term for the first time was used at the time of Muhammad. At present, the word refers to the Muslims who believe that the leadership of the community after Muhammad belongs to Ali, nawbakhti states that the term Shia refers to a group of Muslims that at the time of Muhammad and after him regarded Ali as the Imam and Caliph. Al-Shahrastani expresses that the term Shia refers to those who believe that Ali is designated as the Heir, Imam and caliph by Muhammad, for the Shia, this conviction is implicit in the Quran and history of Islam. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing, Shia search for the true meaning of the revelation to get the purpose of the life blood and the human destiny. Shia Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone and they believe God chose Ali to be Muhammads successor, infallible, the first caliph of Islam. The Shias believe that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor by Gods command, Ali was Muhammads first cousin and closest living male relative as well as his son-in-law, having married Muhammads daughter Fatimah. Ali would eventually become the fourth Muslim caliph, after the Farewell Pilgrimage, Muhammad ordered the gathering of Muslims at the pond of Khumm and it was there that Shia Muslims believe Muhammad nominated Ali to be his successor. The hadith of the pond of Khumm was narrated on 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah of 10 AH in the Islamic calendar at a place called Ghadir Khumm, located near the city of al-Juhfah, Saudi Arabia. Muhammad there stated, Shia Muslims believe this to be Muhammads appointment of Ali as his successor, when Muhammad died in 632 CE, Ali and Muhammads closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and his family accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community. Alis rule over the early Muslim community was often contested, as a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power against the groups who betrayed him after giving allegiance to his succession, or those who wished to take his position. This dispute eventually led to the First Fitna, which was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate, the Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, caused by the assassination of his political predecessor, Uthman ibn Affan
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Politics of Iran
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The politics of Iran take place in a framework of a theocracy in a format of syncretic politics that is guided by an Islamic ideology. Iran has a president, parliament, Assembly of Experts. According to the constitution all candidates running for these positions must be vetted by the Guardian Council before being elected, in addition, there are representatives elected from appointed organizations to protect the states Islamic character. The early days of the government were characterized by political tumult. In November 1979 the American embassy was seized and its occupants taken hostage, the eight-year Iran–Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands and cost the country billions of dollars. S. Government and some others have accused Iran of sponsoring, emigration has lost Iran millions of entrepreneurs, professionals, technicians, and skilled craftspeople and their capital. For this and other reasons Irans economy has not prospered, the Islamic Republic Party was Irans ruling political party and for years its only political party until its dissolution in 1987. After the war, new reformist/progressive parties had started to form, after the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997, more parties started to work, mostly of the reformist movement and opposed by hard-liners. This led to incorporation and official activity of other groups. After the war ended in 1988, reformist and progressive candidates won four out of six presidential elections in Iran, the Iranian Government is opposed by several armed terrorist groups, including the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the Peoples Fedayeen, and the Kurdish Democratic Party. For other political parties see List of political parties in Iran and these are the most recent elections that have taken place. The military and the Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution are charged with defending Irans borders, Irans fiscal year goes from March 21 to March 20 of the following year. Once approved by Majlis, the bill still needs to be ratified by the Guardian Council, the bill will be sent back to the parliament for amendments if it is voted down by the Guardian Council. The Expediency Council acts as arbiter in any dispute. Following annual approval of the budget by Majlis, the central bank presents a detailed monetary and credit policy to the Money. Thereafter, major elements of these policies are incorporated into the economic development plan. The 5-year plan is part of Vision 2025, a strategy for sustainable growth. A unique feature of Irans economy is the size of the religious foundations whose combined budgets make up more than 30% that of the central government
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Elections in Iran
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Iran elects on national level a head of state and head of government, a legislature, and an Assembly of Experts. Also City and Village Council elections are every four years throughout the country. The president is elected for a term by the people. The Parliament or Islamic Consultative Assembly has 290 members, elected for a term in multi-. Elections for the Assembly of Experts are held eight years. All candidates have to be approved by the Guardian Council, see Politics of Iran for more details. Until January 2007, when it was raised to 18, the age was 15 years. The most recent presidential election and the most recent local elections were held on 14 June 2013, the most recent parliamentary election and the most recent Assembly of Experts elections were held on 26 February 2016. The 2013 Iranian presidential election was held on 14 June 2013, hassan Rouhani was elected to succeed outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
25.
Persian language
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Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
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Iranian Revolution
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Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included both secular and religious elements and which intensified in January 1978. Between August and December 1978 strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country, the Shah left Iran for exile on 16 January 1979, as the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council and an opposition-based prime minister. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government, the royal reign collapsed shortly after on 11 February when guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting, bringing Khomeini to official power. It was a relatively non-violent revolution, and helped to redefine the meaning, the Shahs regime became increasingly oppressive, brutal, corrupt, and extravagant. It also suffered from basic functional failures that brought economic bottlenecks, shortages, the Shah was perceived by many as beholden to – if not a puppet of – a non-Muslim Western power whose culture was affecting that of Iran. The Shia clergy had a significant influence on Iranian society, the clergy first showed itself to be a powerful political force in opposition to the monarchy with the 1891 Tobacco Protest. On 20 March 1890, Nasir al-Din Shah granted a concession to Major G. F. Talbot for a monopoly over the production, sale. The boycotts and protests against it were widespread and extensive because of Mirza Hasan Shirazis fatwa, finally Nasir al-Din Shah found himself powerless to stop the popular movement and cancelled the concession. The Tobacco Protest was the first significant Iranians resistance against the Shah and foreign interests, and revealed the power of the people, the growing discontent continued until the Constitutional Revolution. The revolution led to the establishment of a Parliament and approval of the first constitution, although the constitutional revolution was successful in weakening the autocracy of the Qajar regime, it failed to provide a powerful alternative government. Consequently, within the following the establishment of the new parliament. Many of these events can be viewed as a continuation of the struggle between the constitutionalists and the Shahs of Persia, many of whom were backed by foreign powers against the parliament. He established a monarchy, deposing the last of the Qajar shah in 1925 and introduced many social, economic. A number of reforms led to public discontent which provides circumstances for an Iranian revolution. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavis father, Reza Shah, replaced Islamic laws with Western ones, police forcibly removed and tore chadors off women who resisted his ban on the public hijab. In 1935, dozens were killed and hundreds injured in the Goharshad Mosque rebellion, on the other hand, in the early rise of Reza Shah, Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi founded the Qom Seminary and created important changes in seminaries. However, he would avoid entering into political issues, as did other leaders who followed him. Hence, no widespread anti-government attempts were organized by clergy during the Reza Shah Rule, however, the future Ayatollah Khomeini was a student of Sheikh Abdul Karim Ha’eri
27.
Hassan Ayat
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Hassan Ayat was an Iranian politician. He was member of Parliament of Iran in first assembly after Iranian Revolution and he was born on 24 June 1938 in Najafabad, Isfahan. After spending time in studying elementary and secondary schools in Najafabad and he was a classmate with Abulhassan Banisadr. He was journalist from 1958 to 1965 and was worked in Ettelaat, Ayat was a member of Zahmatkeshan Party before Iranian Revolution but resigned from the party after the Revolution because Zahmatkeshan was an opponent to Ruhollah Khomeini. Ayat joined the Islamic Republican Party and became a member of its central committee and he served as the Partys deputy leader from February 1979 until February 1981. He was elected as a member of Assembly of Experts for Constitution in Constitutional Convention election, after that, Ayat was elected as a member of Parliament from Tehran after defeating Abbas Sheibani in Legislative election of 1980. He was one of the candidates of the Islamic Republican Party for First Presidential election that was held in 1980 and he was one of the main leaders in impeachment of President Abulhassan Banisadr. It is often stated that he was to submit to the officials the hard evidence he had gathered against Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard. He was killed when he was on his way to submit the hard evidence by some in front of his house and the hard evidence is said to have been stolen in order to keep Mousavi from being removed forever. At 8,02 am on 5 August 1981, five days after Hafte Tir bombing and he was killed after hit by 60 bullets
28.
Abdollah Jassbi
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Abdollah Jafarali Jassbi is an Iranian academic and politician who was president of Azad University from the establishment of the university in 1982 until his resignation in 2012. He was also a candidate in 1993 and 2001. He was born on 25 November 1944 in Tehran, Iran and he went to Etezad School at the age of 7 and complete his six years high school period in Tehran. His PhD thesis was entitled Productivity analysis and measurement, after receiving his PhD, he became a college teacher at Iran University of Science and Technology. He also became a member of the board of directors of the university in 1970, after the victory of the Iranian Revolution, he came back to his academic career in 1979. He was appointed as Vice President of Iran University of Science, in 1982, he proposed a plan for the establishment of Islamic Azad University. Along with Ali Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Jassbi was a co-founder of Azad University network which is among the biggest NGOs in Iran and he was elected as its first president in January 1983 and served in this position for nearly 30 years. He announced his retirement from Azad University in November 2011 and officially resigned on 17 January 2012 and he was succeeded by Farhad Daneshjoo. He was one of the supporters of Ruhollah Khomeini during 1979 Iranian Revolution, after the victory of the revolution, he served many official positions. In July 1979, he became adviser to the Minister of Interior. He was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in Academic affairs by Prime Minister Mohammad-Ali Rajai and he was also Secretary General of Islamic Republican Party from 1981 to 1983. He was nominated as one of the candidates in 1993 presidential election and received 1,511,574 and lost the election to the Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
29.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
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Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the seventy-ninth and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a reformist candidate for the 2009 presidential election and eventually the leader of the opposition in the post-election unrest, Mousavi served as the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts until 2009, when Conservative authorities removed him. He was the last Prime Minister in Iran prior to the 1989 constitutional changes removed the post of prime minister. He remains a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and the High Council of Cultural Revolution, however, he has not participated in their meetings for years, which is interpreted by political analysts and commentators as a sign of his disapproval. Despite the violent crackdown, he remains the leader of the Green Movement and he chose green as his campaign color, a color which is pervasive in Iran. He is currently under house arrest along with his wife and Mehdi Karroubi, seyyed Mir-Hossein Mousavi was born on 2 March 1942 in Khameneh, East Azarbaijan, Iran. He is an ethnic Azerbaijani, whose family originated from Tabriz and his father, Mir-Ismail, was a tea merchant from Tabriz. Mousavi grew up in Khameneh, and moved to Tehran following his graduation from school in 1958. Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native Ali Khamenei, Mousavis grandmother is Khameneis paternal aunt, while a student, he was an active member of the leftist Islamic association of students. During his college years, Mousavi had a relationship with the Freedom Movement of Iran, a religious-nationalist political party founded by Ali Shariati. Mousavi was among the student activists who regularly attended Ali Shariatis lectures at Hosseiniyeh Ershad of Tehran, in 1969, Mousavi married Zahra Rahnavard, a fellow university student who specialized in sculpture, and was among the well-known students of Ali Shariati. Rahnavard later became the Chancellor of Alzahra University as well as adviser to Irans former President Mohammad Khatami. The couple have three daughters, all speak Azari, Persian, English, and Arabic, Mousavi and his wife had an active role in the success of the Iranian revolution. He was imprisoned for organizing protests against the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. As the Iranian revolution neared, Mousavi, whose earliest political hero was Che Guevara and he became the political secretary of the party, and chief editor of Jomhouri-e Eslami, the partys official newspaper. For this, he is viewed as The Architect of the Islamic Republic both in Iran and abroad. In mid-1979, he was appointed by Khomeini to the Iranian Council of Islamic revolution, during Banisadrs presidency, the prime minister Mohammad Ali Rajai nominated Mousavi as his foreign minister, however Banisadr opposed the nomination and Mousavi was not appointed. On 15 August 1981, as part of the restructuring of the government in Rajais cabinet and he held the post until 15 December 1981, when he received the higher appointment of prime minister
30.
Habibollah Asgaroladi
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Habibollah Asgaroladi Mosalman was a leading senior Iranian politician who was the leader of Islamic Coalition Party, a highly influential conservative political party in Iran. He was also a two time presidential candidate, first in July 1981 and next in 1985, Asgaroladi was born to a wealthy merchant family in Damavand. His ancestors were Jews who converted to Shia islam Asgaroladi is a member of Irans Expediency Council. He ran in the 1981 and 1985 Presidential elections, an attempt was made on his life in a failed assassination attempt in 1981. Asgaroladi was a prominent member of Imam Khomeinis inner circle and returned to Iran from Neuphle-le-Chateau with Araghi & Beheshti. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he was chosen by Imam Khomeini to be the father of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation. Some unofficial reports include him among the wealthiest individuals in Iran with a net worth of several billion dollars, several members of the Asgaroladi family have been featured in the Fortune 500, with Asadollah Asgaroladi possessing an estimated wealth of over USD $9 billion. The Asgaroladis are now amongst the wealthiest families in Iran with commercial interests in real estate, banking, healthcare and exports of dried fruits, nuts, caviar, Asgaroladi published his autobiography in 2012 and was presented with an award by Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian Parliament. He died on 5 November 2013 in Tehrans Dey Hospital after was hospitalized for more two months. His funeral was attended by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, Mohsen Rafiqdoost, Ali Larijani, Asgaroladi was remembered for his devotion to helping the poor through the Relief Foundation and for being a highly respected Statesman both before and after the Islamic Revolution
31.
Mahmoud Kashani
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Seyyed Mahmoud Kashani is an Iranian politician, academic, writer and lawyer. He is also a professor in Shahid Beheshti University and he was head of the Iranian delegation to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands from 1981 to 1985. He was also a candidate in 1985 and 2001 elections. He was born on 6 June 1942 in Tehran, Iran and his father, Abol-Ghasem Kashani was a prominent Twelver Shia Muslim cleric and former chairman of the parliament. He is also brother of Ahmad Kashani, a former member of the parliament. Kashani founded Islamic Republican Party with Mohammad Beheshti and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and was secretary-general of the party from 1979 to 1981 and he was independent candidate in 1985 presidential election which receives 1,402,416 of the votes behind winner Ali Khamenei. He was also nominated in 2001 presidential election which he lost to Mohammad Khatami and was ranked as the 5th out of 10 candidates, Abol-Ghasem Kashani Ahmad Kashani Islamic Republican Party International Court of Justice
32.
Ayatollah
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Ayatollah is a high-ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, quran reading, the next lower clerical rank is Hujjat al-Islam. The name ayatollah originates from a passage in the Quran which the Shia, unlike the Sunni, passage 51, 20–21 of the Quran states, On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith, As also in your own selves, Will ye not then see. The term was not commonly used a title until the twentieth century. The title of Ayatollah became popularized with the creation of Qom Seminary in 1922 and this was a political response on behalf of the Ayatollah against the monopoly on the tobacco industry. The title is granted to top Shia mujtahid, after completing sath. By then the mujtahid would be able to issue his own edicts from the sources of Islamic religious laws, the Quran, the Sunnah, ijmāʻ, most of the time this is attested by an issued certificate from his teachers. The ayatollah can then teach in hawzas according to his speciality, can act as a reference for their religious questions, there are a few women who are equal in ranking to the ayatollahs, and are known as Lady Mujtahideh. The most outstanding in recent history was Nosrat Amin, also known as Banu Isfahani, current examples of the Lady Mujtahidehs are Zohreh Sefati and Lady Ayatollah Aatieh Hassani, also known as Imamah Al-Hassani, daughter of Grand Ayatollah Gholamreza Hassani. Historically, there have been several Mujtahidehs in Shiism, most famously the women in the family of Allama Hilli, only a few of the most important ayatollahs are accorded the rank of Grand Ayatollah. The book is called Resalah, which is usually a reinvention of the book Al-Urwatu l-Wuthqah, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources, there are 64 living Maraji worldwide as of 2014, mainly based in Najaf and Qom. List of Ayatollahs List of Grand Ayatollahs Allamah Clericalism in Iran Hojatoleslam Mullah Al-Shia Towards an Understanding of the Shiite Authoritative Sources
33.
Qom
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Qom, also spelled as Ghom, is the eighth largest city in Iran. It lies 125 kilometres by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province, at the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036, comprising 545,704 men and 528,332 women. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River, Qom is considered holy by Shiʿa Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæsume, sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Rida. The city is the largest center for Shiʿa scholarship in the world, Qom is famous for a brittle toffee called “Sohan”, considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 “Sohan” shops. Qom has developed into an industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil fields were discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956, Qom, the capital of Qom province, is located 125 kilometers south of Tehran, on a low plain. The shrine of Masoumeh, the sister of Imam Reza, is located in this city, the city is located in the boundary of the central desert of Iran. At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036, Qom is counted as one of the focal centers of the Shiʿa both in Iran and around the globe. Since the revolution, the population has risen from around 25,000 to more than 45,000. Substantial sums of money in the form of alms and Islamic taxes flow into Qom to the ten marja-i taqlid or “Source of Imitation” that reside there. The number of schools in Qom is now over fifty. Its theological center and the Fatima al-Masumeh Shrine are prominent features of Qom, another very popular religious site of pilgrimage formerly outside the city of Qom but now more of a suburb is called Jamkaran. Qom’s proximity to Tehran has allowed the clerical establishment easy access to monitor the affairs, many Grand Ayatollahs possess offices in both Tehran and Qom, many people simply commute between the two cities as they are only 156 kilometres or 97 miles apart. Southeast of Qom is the ancient city of Kashan, directly south of Qom lie the towns of Delijan, Mahallat, Naraq, Pardisan City, Kahak, and Jasb. The surrounding area to the east of Qom is populated by Tafresh, Saveh, Qom has a hot desert climate with low annual rainfall due to remoteness from the sea and being situated in the vicinity of the subtropical anticyclone aloft. Except for its hot and extremely dry summers, which are due to the relatively low altitude among the hottest in inland Iran. The present town of Qom in Central Iran dates back to ancient times and its pre-Islamic history can be partially documented, although the earlier epochs remain unclear. Its true function is still a matter of dispute, but the contributions by Wolfram Kleiss point to a Parthian palace that served as a station on the highway and was used until Sasanian times
34.
Ali Akbar Velayati
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Ali Akbar Velayati is an Iranian politician, physician and academic. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for more than sixteen years from 1981 to 1997 under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Presidents Ali Khamenei and he is the first and only person that have held this position for more than ten years. He is currently head of Center for Strategic Research, the board of founders and he was a candidate in 2013 presidential election and lost, coming fifth out of the six candidates garnering 2,268,753 votes, which was 6. 18% of the votes. Velayati was born in Rostamabad village in Shemiran, Tehran, on 24 June 1945 and he was matriculated into Tehran University of medical sciences in 1964. Velayati finished his studies in pediatrics before moving to Johns Hopkins University for a fellowship in infectious diseases, during the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah, Velayati was arrested by the intelligence service SAVAK when he was 17. In 1961, Velayeti joined the National Front, a secular party, following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he was elected as a member of the parliament from his home town in parliamentary election of that year. He was also a deputy minister of health from November 1980 to July 1981 in the cabinet of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Khamenei later proposed Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who gained Parliaments approval. In November 1986, Velayati argued that Iran should have diplomatic ties with all countries, during the premiership of Mousavi, Velayati served as the minister of foreign affairs. After the election of Hashemi Rafsanjani as president, he retained his post until 1997 and he has been an advisor on international affairs to the Supreme Leader of Iran since 1997. Velayati has been on the official Wanted list of Interpol since March 2007, for allegations of Aggravated Murder, Velayeti was appointed to the Strategic Council on foreign relations in 2006. He appears to be close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, serving as his advisor on international affairs and he attended funeral service of Imad Mughniyah, who had been killed on 12 February 2008, representing Khamenei on 14 February in Lebanon. On 30 October 2013, Velayati became head of Center for Strategic Research and he was succeeded by Hassan Rouhani. He finally decided not to run and it was speculated that he did not want to run against Rafsanjani. He announced his nomination for the 2013 presidential election and is supported by conservative groups. He promised a strong external relationships with community reconciliation and more relations with Europe and he also criticized President Ahmadinejads foreign policy. He received 2,268,753 of the votes, comes on the fifth place
35.
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri
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Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, sometimes spelled Nategh-Nouri is an Iranian politician. Nateq-Nouri was the minister of the Islamic Republic. He served as the Chairman of the Parliament from 1992 to 2000 and he was a candidate in the Iranian presidential election in 1997. He was Khamaneis preferred candidate, but he lost the election to Mohammad Khatami and he was given nearly seven million votes, whereas Khatami twenty million votes. He currently serves as an advisor to Irans supreme leader and is a critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and he officially visited Egypt in 2010. Nateq-Nouri was at the center of a dispute in 2009 after he referred to Bahrain as Irans 14th province. Bahrain paused negotiations with Iran regarding gas imports in response, Nateq-Nouri himself told Al Jazeera that his remarks about the history of the region had been misunderstood and that his comment was not relevant to todays Iran-Bahrain relationship
