Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri
Encyclopedia
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 ayatollah
Ayatollah
Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
and diplomat. During the 1980s Taskhiri served as the Iranian representative to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and was involved in promoting Iranian interests during the height of the Iran–Iraq War.
His role, while always significant in the government of Iran, became even more so after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Taskhiri was born in Iraq and has been an important liaison with Shia Iraqi organizations. He was a signatory to an intellectual letter from 38 Muslim scholars, sent as the official Islamic response to Islamophobic comments made by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
on September 12, 2006. He is currently the head of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization in 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...
.