Ali Motahari

Ali Motahhari (Persian: علی مطهری‎; born 26 January 1958)[2] is an Iranian politician who is known as a conservative[3][4] and is also named as a sort of conservative reformist,[5][6][7] who represents Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the Parliament of Iran since 2008 and 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
Constituency	Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Majority	1,447,713 (44.58%)
Personal details
Born	26 January 1958 Tehran, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Political party	Voice of Nation
Other political affiliations	Electoral lists United Front of Principlists (2008) Principlists Pervasive Coalition (2008) List of Hope (2016) Parliamentary groups Principlists (2008–12) Followers of Wilayat (2012–16) Hope (2016–20)
Spouse(s)	Narges Ansari ​ (m. 1982)​ [1]
Children	4
Parents	Morteza Motahhari Azam "Aliyeh" Rouhani
Relatives	Ali Larijani (brother-in-law)
Alma mater	University of Tehran
Profession	University professor Publisher
Website	alimotahari.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

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, Motahhari was injured in an attack by "motorcycle thugs" before giving a speech at Shiraz University.[14]

Electoral history

Year	Election	Votes	%	Rank	Notes
2008	Parliament	571,071	32.80	3rd	Won[15]
2012	Parliament Round 1	455,303	22.77	9th	Went to Round 2[16]
	Parliament Round 2	380,653	33.79	4th	Won[17]
2016	Parliament	1,447,714	44.58	2nd	Won[18]
2020	Parliament	N/A			Disqualified

Public image

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.[19]

References

1. "asemanweekly.com". Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2020-06-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. Banafsheh Keynoush (2012), "Iran after Ahmadinejad", Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 54 (3): 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. Bar, Zvi. "In election-season Iran, domestic politics trump fear of Israeli attack - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
13. "Ahmadinejad Files Suit Against Conservative MP". insideIRAN. 2010-08-02. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
14. http://eaworldview.com/2015/03/iran-feature-mp-ali-motahari-publicly-attacked-and-injured-after-criticism-of-hardliners-what-next/
15. "نتيجه قطعي انتخابات تهران اعلام شد", Fars News Agency (in Persian), 17 March 2008, retrieved 10 February 2016
16. "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
17. نتایج نهایی و رسمی مرحله دوم انتخابات تهران + گرایش سیاسی. Asr Iran (in Persian). 16 May 2012. 212705. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
18. "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
19. "ظریف محبوب‌ترین چهره سیاسی ایران". Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (in Persian). 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

External links

• Interview by PBS