Sadiq Larijani | |
|---|---|
صادق لاریجانی | |
_(crop_of_Sadeq_Larijani).jpg) Larijani in 2017 | |
| Chairman ofExpediency Discernment Council | |
| Assumed office 30 December 2018 | |
| Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
| Preceded by | Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi |
| Chief Justice of Iran | |
| In office 14 August 2009 – 7 March 2019 | |
| Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
| Deputy | Ebrahim Raisi Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i |
| Preceded by | Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi |
| Succeeded by | Ebrahim Raisi |
| Member of the Assembly of Experts | |
| In office 23 February 1999 – 20 May 2024 | |
| Constituency | Mazandaran Province |
| Majority | 682,817 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sadiq Ardashir Larijani (1963-03-12)12 March 1963 (age 62) |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Political party | Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom |
| Parent | Hashim Larijani (father)[1] |
| Relatives | Larijani family |
| Alma mater | Qom Seminary |
Sadiq Ardashir Larijani[a] (born 12 March 1963) is an Iranian cleric and politician who currently serves as the chairman ofExpediency Discernment Council since 2018. He previously served as the sixthchief justice of Iran from 2009 to 2019.
Born inNajaf,Iraq, to theLarijani family, Sadiq Larijani began his seminary studies inQom. Larijani served as one of the 12 members of theGuardian Council of theIslamic Republic of Iran for eight years. He was appointed head of thejudicial system of Iran by supreme leaderAli Khamenei in 2009.
Larijani is one of the closest aides of Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei and has been regarded by many commentators as one of the fourpotential successors to Khamenei, along with the latter's sonMojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei's aideMohsen Araki andHassan Khomeini, grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini.[2][3]
Sadiq Ardashir Larijani was born on 12 March 1963 inNajaf,Iraq, to an Iranian family originating fromLarijan,Iran. His father,Hashim Larijani, was a high-ranking Shia Islamic scholar and was bestowed the titleGrand Ayatollah. Amoli had moved to Najaf after reportedly being exiled byMohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran.
Larijani became familiar with both religious sciences and modern sciences as a child. He began primary school in 1346 Solar (1966) and finished high school in 1360 Solar (1981). After high school, he began his seminary studies inQom. He finished his seminary studies in 1368 Solar (1989) and then began to teach in both seminary and university. He became a member of scientific staffs ofQom University and taught many courses intheology andcomparative philosophy.[4] Larijani is a brother ofAli Larijani (Speaker of the previo Majlis),Mohammad Javad Larijani,Bagher Larijani (Chancellor ofTehran University of Medical Sciences), andFazel Larijani (Iran's former cultural attaché inOttawa).[5][6][7]
Larijani served as one of the 12 members of theGuardian Council of theIslamic Republic of Iran for eight years.[8] Described as "relatively junior"[8] or "inexperienced cleric" with "close ties to Iran's military and intelligence agencies",[9] he was appointed head of thejudicial system of Iran by supreme leaderAli Khamenei on 14 August 2009.[10]
According to leadingIranian human rights defenselawyer[11] Mohammad Seifzadeh, the head of the Judicial System of Iran is required to be aMojtahed with significant experience in the field. Larijani, however, was neither an experienced jurist nor a highly ranked cleric and carried the title ofHojjat-ol Eslam up to a few months before his appointment to the post.[12] Larijani's tenure as the Chief Justice of Iran ended on 7 March 2019, when the Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei appointedEbrahim Raisi to succeed him.
Shortly after his appointment, Larijani appointedSaeed Mortazavi to the post of the deputy prosecutor general of Iran. Mortazavi was prosecutor general of Tehran for more than seven years, during which he was involved in murdering and torturing several Iranian civilians and activists. One of the high-profile deaths attributed to Mortazavi is that of Canadian-Iranian photojournalistZahra Kazemi. On 7 September 2009, Iranian police, with permission from the judiciary system and Tehran General Court, entered the office to support political prisoners and seized all the documents and computers, among others. The police refused to give a receipt for the items. Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi organized the office to support the victims of torture in Iranian prisons.[13] On 8 September 2009, Iranian Judiciary, unexpectedly closed and sealed the office of National Confidence Party and arrested Morteza Alviri and Alireza Beheshti and several of the closest allies of opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi.[14][15] That same month, the authorities from the Judiciary System began targeting the children of leaders of the opposition groups. For instance, Atefeh Emam, the daughter of jailed activist Javad Emam, the Chief of Staff of Mousavi's campaign, was arrested on 9 September 2009, held in a secret facility, and tortured to pressure her to make a "confession" implicating her father. The Judiciary released her after twenty-four hours in the South of Tehran in an inappropriate condition.[16]
In 2015, he said it is illegal for theAssembly of Experts to supervise Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei.[17] In 2016, he warned presidentHassan Rouhani against voicing opposition to Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei.[18][19][20]
Sadiq Larijani stated that the government does not derive legitimacy from the nation's votes.[21] He is a well-known critic of ex-presidentMohammad Khatami and his reforms. In March 1998, an article by him attacking Khatami's call for an Islamic civil society andAbdolkarim Soroush's philosophy was published inSobh newspaper.[22]
Larijani proclaimed:
"We support a society which is based on the spirit of Islam and religious faith, in which Islamic and religious values are propagated, in which everyKoranic injunction and the teachings of the Prophet of Islam and the Imams are implemented. It will be a society in which the feeling of servitude to God Almighty will be manifest everywhere, and in which people will not demand their rights from God but are conscious of their obligations to God."[23]
At the same time, he was considered a leading figure in the sphere ofphilosophy of law or fiqh.[24]He also criticizes the views of people – such asAbdolkarim Soroush – who say that while there is a society, or civilization, of Muslims, there is no such thing as an Islamic society or civilization and that Islam is a spiritual and individual way of life, not an ideology.[25]Larijani condemned protesters and those who expressed doubts in the2009 presidential election results, calling the protests "illegal" and any doubts "baseless".[26]
On 23 May 2012, Larijani was put on the sanction list ofthe European Union, which was published inthe Official Journal of the Union.[27] In the journal, it was stated that as head of the judiciary in Iran, he endorsed and allowed harsh punishments for retribution crimes, crimes against God, and crimes against the state.[27][28]
In January 2018, the United States sanctioned Larijani for human rights abuses,[29] which Iran strongly denied.[30]
Ayatollah Sadiq Larijani wrote works in a variety of different fields such asIslamic jurisprudence (fiqh),principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Uṣūl al-fiqh),analytic philosophy,philosophy of language, andmoral philosophy. He translated some works into Persian, notablyGeoffrey Warnock'sContemporary Moral Philosophy. He also translated aphilosophy of science article byKarl Popper. In several works, he criticizes the Western point of view from an Islamic viewpoint.[31] In May 2016, The collection of philosophy of principles was represented by him. This collection amounts to 33 volumes; until now, just the first and fifth volumes have been published.[32]
Some of the books written by him are as follows:
According to a poll conducted in March 2016 byInformation and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Larijani has 37% approval and 29% disapproval ratings and thus a +8% net popularity; while 23% of responders do notrecognize the name.[34]
Larijani is son-in-law of Grand AyatollahHossein Wahid Khorasani,[35][1] who was one of his teachers inQom.[6] Larijani's uncles includeAbdollah Javadi-Amoli.[1]Ahmad Tavakoli is among the cousins of Larijani.[1]
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| Preceded by | Chief Justice of Iran 2009–2019 | Succeeded by |
