Ali Motahhari (Persian: علی مطهری; born 26 January 1958)[2] is an Iranian conservative politician.[3][4] He is also named as a sort of conservative reformist,[5][6][7] who represented Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He was Second Deputy of the Parliament of Iran from 2016 until 2019.

Ali Motahhari
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office
28 May 2008 – 26 May 2020
ConstituencyTehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Majority1,447,713 (44.58%)
Personal details
Born (1958-01-26) 26 January 1958 (age 66)
Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Political partyVoice of the Nation
Other political
affiliations
Parliamentary groups
Spouse
Narges Ansari
(m. 1982)
[1]
Children4
Parent(s)Morteza Motahhari
Azam "Aliyeh" Rouhani
RelativesAli Larijani (brother-in-law)
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
ProfessionUniversity professor
Publisher
Websitealimotahari.com

Motahhari is described as an orthodox politician[8] with liberal conservative[9] and moderate conservative[10] views. He is the leader of the People's Voice Coalition.[11]

Motahhari heads Sadra Publications and teaches at University of Tehran, where he gained a PhD in philosophy.[1]

Biography edit

Ali Motahhari was born in Tehran. His father is noted Islamic scholar Morteza Motahhari.

Motahari is a brother-in-law of the current Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani,[12] and a harsh critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[13] He criticized Ahmadinejad for his "self-centered" policies saying: "It is unprecedented and inappropriate that a president simply says I do not accept this law and will not execute it. This is a sign of despotism."[13] Motahhari tried to summon Ahmadinejad to parliament to face questioning and possible impeachment. Though a conservative, he has been something of a maverick.

On 13 March 2015, Motahari was injured in an attack by "motorcycle thugs" before giving a speech at Shiraz University.[14]

In 2020, he suggested that the Islamic Republic was to partially blame for the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, saying "We have scared the Arabs and pushed them towards Israel. An example of this is storming the Saudi embassy and setting it ablaze. The policy of making Iran the enemy has been fruitful. This needs to be remedied." This was a highly unusual response contrasted to that of other Iranian politicians.[15][16]

On April 6, 2021, Motahari sparked controversy after he said in a podcast that European men were "not aroused and women are resorting to African men."[17][better source needed]

Electoral history edit

Year Election Votes % Rank Notes
2008 Parliament 571,071 32.80 3rd Won[18]
2012 Parliament Round 1   455,303   22.77 9th Went to Round 2[19]
Parliament Round 2   380,653   33.79 4th Won[20]
2016 Parliament   1,447,714   44.58 2nd Won[21]
2020 Parliament Disqualified
2021 President Disqualified

Public image edit

According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Motahhari has 36% approval and 15% disapproval ratings and thus a +21% net popularity; while 40% of responders don't recognize the name.[22]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "asemanweekly.com". Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  2. ^ "آشنایی با دکتر علی مطهری". Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  3. ^ Banafsheh Keynoush (2012), "Iran after Ahmadinejad", Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 54 (3), New York: Springer Science+Business Media: 127–146, doi:10.1080/00396338.2012.690988, S2CID 153661674
  4. ^ Ariabarzan Mohammadi (2014), The path dependent nature of factionalism in post-Khomeini Iran (Discussion Paper), Durham University, p. 26
  5. ^ A conservative reformist bartarinha.ir Retrieved 6 April 2020
  6. ^ Politically, Motahari is reformist irna.ir Retrieved 6 April 2020
  7. ^ Motahari: I'm reformist in politic... rajanews.com Retrieved 6 April 2020
  8. ^ "Glossary of Iranian Political Terms", Iranian Diplomacy, 21 March 2010, retrieved 20 August 2017
  9. ^ pbs.org
  10. ^ "tehrantimes.com". Archived from the original on 2014-09-16. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  11. ^ Katayoun Kishi (February 24, 2016). "Iran's Election Coalitions". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  12. ^ Barel, Zvi (15 February 2012). "In election-season Iran, domestic politics trump fear of Israeli attack". Haaretz. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  13. ^ a b "Ahmadinejad Files Suit Against Conservative MP". insideIRAN. 2010-08-02. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  14. ^ "Iran Feature: MP Ali Motahari Publicly Attacked and Injured After Criticism of Hardliners - What Next?". 14 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Why is Iran concerned about the peace agreement between the UAE and Israel?". Atlantic Council. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  16. ^ Itzchakov, Doron (2020). "Iran and the Israel-UAE Deal". The Israel-UAE Peace: 39–42.
  17. ^ "Iran pres candidate gives racist/sexist rant: Women resort to African men". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  18. ^ "نتيجه قطعي انتخابات تهران اعلام شد", Fars News Agency (in Persian), 17 March 2008, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 10 February 2016
  19. ^ "۵۲۷ کاندیدای تهران در انتخابات ۱۲ اسفند چقدر رای آوردند؟", Khabaronline (in Persian), 18 March 2012, archived from the original on 19 March 2017, retrieved 10 February 2016
  20. ^ نتایج نهایی و رسمی مرحله دوم انتخابات تهران + گرایش سیاسی. Asr Iran (in Persian). 16 May 2012. 212705. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  21. ^ "ریز آمار نتایج 1021 کاندیدای نمایندگی مجلس در تهران + فیلم مرور روز انتخابات", Iranian Students' News Agency (in Persian), 27 February 2016, retrieved 27 February 2016
  22. ^ "ظریف محبوب‌ترین چهره سیاسی ایران". Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (in Persian). 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

External links edit

Assembly seats
Preceded by 2nd Vice Speaker of Parliament of Iran
2016–2019
Succeeded by