Hadi Khamenei
Encyclopedia
Hojatoleslam
Hadi Khamenei (born 1947) is an influential Iran
ian reformist politician
, mojtahed and linguist. He is a key member of the reformist
Association of Combatant Clerics, and a former deputy of the Majlis of Iran
representing a district in Tehran
.
's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with whom he disagrees and from whom he is now estranged.
Born to an Iranian Azeri father and Yazd
-native mother, Hadi Khamenei grew up in the 1950s, one of eight siblings, spending his free time raising birds and playing sports. He says that his father did not force him into religious studies.
During his school career, he developed an interest in humanities and eventually studied History
& Azerbaijani literature
at the State University of Baku in 1960s. Upon graduating, he began studying languages and History independently. He remains active as a critic of poetry & History and is known to give lectures in Universities & schools across Iran
.
Besides his native tongue Azerbaijani
, and Persian
, Khamenei is a polyglot
, as he is also fluent in Arabic
, Armenian
, English
, Russian
, Turkish
and Urdu
.
. He was a deputy minister in the 1980s.
Aside from Association of Combatant Clerics, Hadi Khamenei is Secretary-general of the Society of Forces Following the Line of the Imam (Khat-e-Imam).
`The political right in this country say that the supreme leader
is above the law, that he can change the law, that he can decree anything he feels is right. Those powers can cause a dictatorship,` he told American author Robin Wright
in a 2000 interview in Tehran. Hadi Khamenei argues that the Guardian Council's
vetting of candidates threatens Iranian democracy. He believes that some reformist candidates are wrongly kept from running. In 1998, the Guardian Council
rejected Hadi Khamenei's candidacy for a seat in the Assembly of Experts
, allegedly for having "insufficient theological qualifications."
. On February 11, 1999, around one hundred people attacked Hadi Khamenei in Qom
. The attackers fractured Hadi Khamenei's skull. The mob used "stones, sticks, iron rods and shoes" to attack Hadi Khamenei. The Iranian police arrested 45 people who were suspected to be involved in the attack.
The editors of the newspapers Salam, Khordad, Sobh-i Imruz, Hamshahri, Akhbar, Iran, Etelaat, Iran News, Zan, Arya, and Kar va Kargar signed a letter condemning the attack on Hadi Khamenei. The Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture and the "Society of Lecturers and Researchers at Qom's Theological Seminary" also condemned the attack.
Some conservatives blamed Hadi Khamenei for the attack. Member of Parliament Rajab Rahmani argued that Hadi Khamenei staged the attack to get attention and pity. Mohammad Mohajeri of the Kayhan newspaper suggested that Hadi Khamenei's comments were "the root cause of violence."
, Hayat-e No is regarded as reliable. According to the Financial Times, Hayat-e No is a pro-reform daily. Hadi Khamenei's other newspaper, Jahan-e Islam, was shut down in 1995. The newspaper was accused of insulting Islamic beliefs and publishing false information. According to The New York Times
, Jahan-e Islam was a moderate daily. However, in 1995, The New York Times
characterized as Hadi Khamenei's newspaper, Jahan-e Islam, as a "hard-line Islamic newspaper."
Hojatoleslam
Hujjat al-Islam is an honorific title meaning "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam", given to Twelver Shī‘ah clerics...
Hadi Khamenei (born 1947) is an influential Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian reformist politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, mojtahed and linguist. He is a key member of the reformist
Iranian reformists
The Iranian reform movement , or the Reforms Front also known as 2nd of Khordad Front is a political movement by a group of political parties and organizations in Iran who supported Mohammad Khatami's plans to change the system to include more freedom and...
Association of Combatant Clerics, and a former deputy of the Majlis of Iran
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
representing a district in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
.
Background
He is a younger brother of IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with whom he disagrees and from whom he is now estranged.
Born to an Iranian Azeri father and Yazd
Yazd
Yazd is the capital of Yazd Province in Iran, and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan. At the 2006 census, the population was 423,006, in 114,716 families....
-native mother, Hadi Khamenei grew up in the 1950s, one of eight siblings, spending his free time raising birds and playing sports. He says that his father did not force him into religious studies.
During his school career, he developed an interest in humanities and eventually studied History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
& Azerbaijani literature
Azerbaijani literature
Azerbaijani literature refers to the literature written in Azerbaijani, which currently is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is widely spoken in northwestern Iran and eastern Turkey...
at the State University of Baku in 1960s. Upon graduating, he began studying languages and History independently. He remains active as a critic of poetry & History and is known to give lectures in Universities & schools across Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
Besides his native tongue Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Khamenei is a polyglot
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
, as he is also fluent in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
.
Politics
Hadi Khamenei became a leading reformer in the 1990s, putting him at odds with his older brother, whose official position he criticized as having too much power. Hadi Khamenei was an important adviser to reformist President Mohammad KhatamiMohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
. He was a deputy minister in the 1980s.
Aside from Association of Combatant Clerics, Hadi Khamenei is Secretary-general of the Society of Forces Following the Line of the Imam (Khat-e-Imam).
`The political right in this country say that the supreme leader
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is the highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists...
is above the law, that he can change the law, that he can decree anything he feels is right. Those powers can cause a dictatorship,` he told American author Robin Wright
Robin Wright (author)
Robin B. Wright is an American foreign affairs analyst, and an award-winning journalist and author.A graduate of the University of Michigan, she lives in Washington D.C.-Career:...
in a 2000 interview in Tehran. Hadi Khamenei argues that the Guardian Council's
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council of the Constitution , also known as the Guardian Council or Council of Guardians, is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran....
vetting of candidates threatens Iranian democracy. He believes that some reformist candidates are wrongly kept from running. In 1998, the Guardian Council
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council of the Constitution , also known as the Guardian Council or Council of Guardians, is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran....
rejected Hadi Khamenei's candidacy for a seat in the Assembly of Experts
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts of Iran , also translated as Council of Experts, is a deliberative body of 86 Mujtahids that is charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of Iran and supervising his activities.Members of the assembly are elected from a government-screened list of candidates by...
, allegedly for having "insufficient theological qualifications."
Attack
In the 1990s, Hadi Khamenei spoke at seminaries across Iran and launched a reformist newspaper to provide alternative coverage to the state media. In late 1990s, hard-line opponents of the reform movement, organized a campaign targeted at him, by physically attacking him during lectures which were critical of the hard-line leadership, (he required hospitalization for head injuries suffered at a Qom mosque), banning his newspaper, disqualifying him from running for the Assembly of ExpertsAssembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts of Iran , also translated as Council of Experts, is a deliberative body of 86 Mujtahids that is charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of Iran and supervising his activities.Members of the assembly are elected from a government-screened list of candidates by...
. On February 11, 1999, around one hundred people attacked Hadi Khamenei in Qom
Qom
Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
. The attackers fractured Hadi Khamenei's skull. The mob used "stones, sticks, iron rods and shoes" to attack Hadi Khamenei. The Iranian police arrested 45 people who were suspected to be involved in the attack.
The editors of the newspapers Salam, Khordad, Sobh-i Imruz, Hamshahri, Akhbar, Iran, Etelaat, Iran News, Zan, Arya, and Kar va Kargar signed a letter condemning the attack on Hadi Khamenei. The Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture and the "Society of Lecturers and Researchers at Qom's Theological Seminary" also condemned the attack.
Some conservatives blamed Hadi Khamenei for the attack. Member of Parliament Rajab Rahmani argued that Hadi Khamenei staged the attack to get attention and pity. Mohammad Mohajeri of the Kayhan newspaper suggested that Hadi Khamenei's comments were "the root cause of violence."
Newspapers
The Special Court for the Clergy, a tribunal appointed by the Supreme Leader, accused Hadi Khamenei's newspaper, Hayat-e No, of "press offenses." The newspaper was accused of insulting Imam Khomeini in a cartoon. In parliament, Hadi Khamenei said that he would have rather died than be accused of insulting the imam. The Special Court for Clergy temporarily banned Hayat-e No in January 2000. According to the GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Hayat-e No is regarded as reliable. According to the Financial Times, Hayat-e No is a pro-reform daily. Hadi Khamenei's other newspaper, Jahan-e Islam, was shut down in 1995. The newspaper was accused of insulting Islamic beliefs and publishing false information. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Jahan-e Islam was a moderate daily. However, in 1995, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
characterized as Hadi Khamenei's newspaper, Jahan-e Islam, as a "hard-line Islamic newspaper."
See also
- Shahram Jazayeri-ArabShahram Jazayeri-ArabShahram Jazayeri-Arab is an Iranian entrepreneur and businessman involved in a high-profile corruption case with several officials of the Islamic republic. He was also involved in fabrication of official documents...
- List of members of Constitutional Amendment Council of Iran