Senior Iranian Cleric, Politician Passes away
Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani, who had been hospitalized due to a heart attack since June died in a Tehran hospital following a months-long coma.
The 83-year-old veteran politician had been elected as the chairman of the Assembly of Experts in March 2011. The high-ranking body of experts elects and oversees the activities of the leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Born in 1931 in Kan, a village near Tehran, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani started attending an Islamic seminary in Tehran after finishing elementary school.
He then left for Qom to study in the city’s famous seminary where prominent figures like Ayatollah Borujerdi, Imam Khomeini (RA), Ayatollah Golpayegani, and others taught Islamic jurisprudence.
Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani joined the anti-Shah movement of Imam Khomeini (RA) in the 1960s and was arrested and imprisoned several times before the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
After the victory of the revolution, he held several high-ranking positions including interior minister, member of the Guardian Council, acting prime minister, member of the Expediency Council, and chairman of the Assembly of Experts.
The prominent cleric has written several books on a wide range of religious and scientific issues and was the founder and chairman of renowned Imam Sadeq University, which specializes in humanities.
