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{{Short description|Iranian politician and cleric (1946–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Mohammad Reyshahri
| image               = Mohammad_Reyshahri_13990315_0345837.jpg
| birth_name          = Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik
| birth_date          = 29 October 1946
| birth_place         = [[Rey, Iran|Rey]], [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2022|3|21|1946|10|29|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Tehran]], Iran
| office              = [[Assembly of Experts|Member of the Assembly of Experts]]
| term_start          = 24 May 2016
| term_end            = 21 March 2022
| majority            = 1,952,563 (43.38%)
| constituency        = [[Tehran Province]]
| office1             = [[Prosecutor-General of Iran]]
| term_start1         = 1989
| term_end1           = 1991
| appointer1          = [[Mohammad Yazdi]]
| predecessor1        = [[Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha]]
| successor1          = [[Seyed Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi]]
| office2             = 1st [[Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)|Minister of Intelligence of Iran]]
| term_start2         = 15 August 1984
| term_end2           = 29 August 1989
| president1          = [[Ali Khamenei]]
| primeminister2      = [[Mir-Hossein Mousavi]]
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| successor2          = [[Ali Fallahian]]
| alma_mater          = [[Haghani Circle]]
| party               = [[Association for Defence of Revolution Values]] <small>(1996–1999)</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parstimes.com/politics/legally_registered_parties.html|work=Khorasan Newspaper|title=List of Legally Registered Parties in Iran|publisher=Pars Times|access-date=21 August 2015|number=14759|page=4|date=30 July 2000}}</ref>
}}
'''Mohammad Reyshahri''' ({{langx|fa|محمد محمدی ری‌‌شهری}}), also known as '''Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik''' (29 October 1946 – 21 March 2022), was an Iranian politician, cleric, judge and religious scholar, who notably served as Chief Judge of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal (1979–1984), as the first [[Ministry of Intelligence and National Security (Iran)|Minister of Intelligence and Security]] (1984–1989) in the cabinet of Prime Minister [[Mir-Hossein Mousavi]] and as [[Prosecutor-General of Iran]] from 1989 to 1991.

==Early life and education==
Reyshahri was born into a religious [[Persians|Persian]] family in [[Rey, Iran|Rey]] on 29 October 1946.<ref name=buchta>{{cite book|last=Buchta|first=Wilfried|title=Who rules Iran?|year=2000|publisher=The Washington Institute and The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung|pages=19|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/WhoRulesIran.pdf}}</ref><ref name=dean>{{cite web|title=Dean of Dar Al-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute|url=http://www.darolhadith.com/modules.php?name=my_Menu&pid=3|publisher=Dar Al-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute|access-date=19 February 2013}}</ref> He was educated in [[Qom]] and [[Najaf]] in the field of theology.<ref name=buchta/> He and his successor at the ministry of intelligence, [[Ali Fallahian]], were alumni of the [[Haqqani School]] in Qom.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A profile|url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/9920777|work=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division|access-date=5 August 2013|format=Report|date=December 2012}}</ref>

==Career==
Reyshahri began to involve himself in political activities in June 1963 during the [[1963 demonstrations in Iran|religious revolts]] after Khomeini's famous speech in Qom.<ref name=buchta/>
In 1967, he fled to Najaf and stayed there for a while. Upon his return to Iran, he was imprisoned.<ref name=buchta/> While incarcerated, he met [[Ali Khamenei]], who later became [[supreme leader of Iran]].<ref name="ABNA-20220326" /> Until the [[Iranian Revolution]], he was banned from preaching.<ref name=buchta/>

After the victory of the revolution, Reyshahri served as Chief Judge of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal from 1979 to 1984, and was involved in investigating and purging the plotters of the [[Nojeh coup plot|Nojeh coup]] (which was planned for 8 July 1980 by supporters of [[Shapour Bakhtiar]] and was reported to Reyshahri by [[Saeed Hajjarian]]) as well as the [[Sadegh Ghotbzadeh|Ghotbzadeh]] coup, which led to the execution of [[Sadegh Ghotbzadeh]] and the removal of grand ayatollah [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari|Ayatollah Kazem Shariatmadari]] from being a ''[[Marja'|marja]]'' by the [[Society of Teachers of the Qom Hawza]].<ref>Nader Entessar, ''The Military and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in''Post-Revolutionary Iran: edited by Hooshang Amirahmadi and Manoucher Parvin'', p. 64, 1988</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/07/13/iranians-report-arrests-in-alleged-coup-attempt/f842c853-1a47-45c7-9cea-136772a82411/ Iranians Report Arrests In Alleged Coup Attempt], ''Washington Post'', July 12, 1980</ref>

From 1984 to 1989, in Prime Minister [[Mir Hossein Mousavi]]'s [[Government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi (1981–1989)|cabinet]],<ref name=bar09>{{cite journal|last=Bar|first=Shmuel|title=Iranian terrorist policy and "export of revolution"|journal=Interdisciplinary Center|year=2009|url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2903Iranian.pdf|access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref> Reyshahri served as the inaugural [[Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)|Minister of Intelligence and Security]].<ref name="IQNA-obit" /> He played a major role in defining and expanding the Ministry's role and remit, collaborating especially with the intelligence services of [[North Korea]], [[Baathist Syria|Syria]], [[Gaddafi's Libya|Libya]] and [[South Yemen]], which supported Iran during its [[Iran-Iraq War|war with Iraq]]. Into his tenure also falls the case of [[Mehdi Hashemi]]. Reyshahri executed Hashemi two days ahead of schedule on 28 September 1987, so that Reyshahri would not need to follow a letter written by [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Ayatollah Khomeini]] on 28 September in which he informed Reyshahri that the sentence had been commuted to internal exile.<ref name=miriam>{{cite journal|last=Künkler|first=Mirjam|title=The Special Court of the Clergy (Dādgāh-Ye Vizheh-Ye Ruhāniyat) and the Repression of Dissident Clergy in Iran|ssrn=1505542|journal=Social Science Research Network|date=13 May 2009}}</ref>

Reyshahri was  then appointed [[Prosecutor-General of Iran]], serving from 1989 to 1991, and also became Chief Prosecutor of the [[Special Court for the Clergy]] in 1990. He drafted the court's 47-article ordinance, which was subsequently passed in 1990.<ref name=miriam/> Before the Majlis elections in 1996, he established the [[Society for the Defence of the Values of the Islamic Revolution]].<ref name=shah>{{cite journal|last=Alam|first=Shah|title=Conservatives, liberals and the struggle over Iranian politics|journal=Strategic Analysis|year=2000|volume=24|issue=3|pages=553–583|doi=10.1080/09700160008455232|s2cid=153684057}}</ref>

In 1991 Reyshahri was appointed "Representative on Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs" by Supreme Leader [[Ali Khamenei]] placing him in charge of the new "Organization for [[Hajj]] and Pilgrimage". This independent entity was thereafter separate from the office responsible for endowments and charity, with Iranian law stating that "all of the Hajj's cultural, political, and outreach issues are under the exclusive authority of the Supreme Leader's Representative".<ref>[https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/irans-ideological-exploitation-hajj Iran's Ideological Exploitation of the Hajj], Mehdi Khalaji, ''The Washington Institute'', September 12, 2016</ref> He continued to hold that post at least until 2007.<ref name=mathaba>{{cite news|title=Iran Saudi Arabia ties growing ties: Reyshahri|url=http://mathaba.net/news/?x=575107|access-date=19 February 2013|newspaper=Mathaba|date=19 December 2007|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418125457/http://mathaba.net/news/?x=575107|archive-date=18 April 2016}}</ref> He was the dean of the Dar Al Hadith Scientific Cultural Institute.<ref name=dean/> Reyshahri was also an unsuccessful presidential candidate in [[1997 Iranian presidential election|the election]] on 23 May 1997, which led to the presidency of [[Mohammad Khatami]].<ref name=Daniel2012>{{cite book|author=Elton L. Daniel|title=The History of Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmVUg_qHr2AC&pg=PA234|access-date=19 February 2013|date=16 January 2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-37510-1|pages=234}}</ref> He finished in fourth place among the four candidates approved by the [[Guardian Council]].<ref name="IDP">{{Citation|title= 1997 Presidential Election|work = The Iran Social Science Data Portal |url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/1997-presidential-election |access-date= 26 March 2022}}</ref>

In 2016, he also became a member of the [[Assembly of Experts]].

==Later life==
Reyshahri wrote more than 75 books on Islamic teachings,<ref name="IQNA-obit" /> and one of them, entitled ''The Wisdom of Christ'', was translated and published in English in South Africa to mark the New Year in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ayatollah Reyshahri book on "The Wisdom of Christ" published in S. Africa |url=https://en.abna24.com/news//ayatollah-reyshahri-book-on-the-wisdom-of-christ-published-in-s-africa_1220632.html |access-date=26 March 2022 |publisher=abna24.com |date=20 January 2022 |language=English}}</ref>

Reyshahri died at a hospital in Tehran on 21 March 2022 at the age of 75.<ref name="IQNA-obit">{{cite news |title=Senior Iranian Cleric Ayatollah Reyshahri Passes Away |url=https://iqna.ir/en/news/3478253/senior-iranian-cleric-ayatollah-reyshahri-passes-away |access-date=26 March 2022 |agency=International Quran News Agency |date=22 March 2022 |language=en |quote=He had been hospitalized in Tehran's Khatam-al- Anbya Hospital and passed away at the early hours of Tuesday at the age of 75.... After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he took several roles in the judiciary branch as head of different courts. He was the first intelligence Minister of the Islamic Republic in 1984. ... Besides teaching in the Qom Seminary, he wrote more than 75 books focused on Islamic teachings. }}</ref> At the funeral on 23 March, Ali Khamenei described Reyshahri as "a benevolent person who served the people" and "always a source of blessings".<ref name="ABNA-20220326">{{Cite news |title=Imam Khamenei: 'I only saw goodness in him' |url=https://en.abna24.com/news//imam-khamenei-%E2%80%9Ci-only-saw-goodness-in-him%E2%80%9D_1242382.html |access-date=26 March 2022 |publisher=abna24.com |agency=[[AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA)|ABNA]]|date=26 March 2022 |language=English|quote=After performing the funeral prayer for the diligent, religious scholar Sheikh Muhammadi Reyshahri on March 23, 2022, Imam Khamenei described this scholar as being a benevolent person who served the people. ... Referring to his first meeting with Mr. ReyShahri in prison during the Pahlavi Regime, Imam Khamenei explained, 'The first time I saw him was there. Then after the Revolution, when he served as a Minister, when he was a judge and when he held various positions, we saw each other frequently. He was truly always a source of blessings.{{'-}}}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/Expediency-members.html Members of the Expediency Discernment Council (2000)]

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Intelligence of Iran|Minister of Intelligence of Iran]]|years=1984–1989}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ali Fallahian]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Intelligence Ministers of Iran}}
{{1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners}}
{{People executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyshahri, Mohammad}}
[[Category:Iranian ayatollahs]]
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:Iranian Shia clerics]]
[[Category:People from Ray, Iran]]
[[Category:Ministers of intelligence of Iran]]
[[Category:Iranian prosecutors]]
[[Category:Members of the Expediency Discernment Council]]
[[Category:Members of the Assembly of Experts]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1997 Iranian presidential election]]
[[Category:Association for Defence of Revolution Values politicians]]
[[Category:1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners]]