Ahmad Jannati ( fa, احمد جنتی, born 23 February 1927) is an Iranian
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician. He was born in Ladan,
Isfahan. Jannati is known for his
anti-LGBT rhetoric
Anti-LGBT rhetoric comprises themes, catchphrases, and slogans that have been used against homosexuality or other non-heterosexual sexual orientations in order to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. They range from the ...
and opposition to
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
. He is also a founding member of the
Haghani school of thought.
Today, Jannati occupies two prominent posts in Iranian politics as chairman of the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
, the body charged with choosing the
Supreme Leader, and as chairman of the
Guardian Council, the body in charge of checking legislation approved by
Majlis with the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
and ''
sharia'', and approving the candidates in various
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
.
Career
Jannati has been a member of the Guardian Council since 1980 and has been its chair since 1988. In 2016, he became the chairman of the
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
, the body in charge of
appointing the Supreme Leader. He was reappointed to the earlier post in 2022.
Views
During a
Friday Prayer on 4 August 2006, Jannati asserted that "support for
Hezbollah" was "a duty." Regarding
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, around the time its draft constitution was presented to parliament in 2005, he said: "Fortunately, after years of effort and expectations in Iraq, an Islamic state has come to power and the constitution has been established on the basis of Islamic precepts".
On election protest
In a Friday prayer sermon on 29 January 2010 in Tehran, Jannati "praised Iranian judicial authorities for executing two political dissidents" the day before and "urged officials to continue executing dissidents until opposition protests come to an end."
Jannati sees leniency with the dissidents as un-Islamic.
"God ordered the prophet Muhammad to brutally slay hypocrites and ill-intentioned people who stuck to their convictions. Koran insistently orders such deaths. May God not forgive anyone showing leniency toward the corrupt on Earth."
Responding to clerics such as Jannati wanting to speed up executions, Iran's judiciary chief firmly stated his opposition, commenting that it was against the
Sharia and Iranian law:
"Political assumptions should not influence judicial investigations because we won't have a response before God should an innocent person be punished due to hasty action."
On the United States
In a 1 June 2007 speech aired on Iranian TV Channel 1 (as translated by
MEMRI
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI; officially the "Middle East Media and Research Institute") is a nonprofit press monitoring and analysis organization co-founded by former Israeli military intelligence officer Yigal Carmon an ...
), Jannati stated:
People are increasingly inclined towards the Koran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
, towards Islam, towards the Islamic Revolution and the Imam homeini Khomeini is an Iranian name, derived from the Iranian city of Khomein. The most prominent Khomeini is Ruhollah Khomeini.
Notable people named Khomeini include:
* Ruhollah Khomeini, former Supreme Leader of Iran
*Ahmad Khomeini, son of Ruhollah Kh ...
Just like this movement destroyed the monarchical regime here, it will definitely destroy the arrogant rule of hegemony of America, Israel, and their allies... At the end of the day, we are an anti-American regime. America is our enemy, and we are the enemies of America. The hostility between us is not a personal matter. It is a matter of principle. We are in disagreement over the very principles that underlie our revolution and our Islam.
In April 2008, he stated, "You cried: `Death to the
Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
,` and indeed, he died. You cried: `Death to Israel,` and it is now on its deathbed. You cry: `Death to America,` and before long, Allah willing, the prayer for the dead will be recited over it."
On 17 September 2010, Jannati "described the recent desecration of the holy Quran in the United States
san insane behavior," apparently referring to the
2010 Qur'an-burning controversy. In the same
Friday Prayer, he reportedly claimed that "
opinion polls
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
reveal
dthat 84 percent of the Americans consider
the US administration responsible for
9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...
." The Ayatollah's comments about Americans' opinions about 9/11 were cited by analysts after President Ahmadinejad made similar comments, amongst others, the next week at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. The president's speech sparked at least 33 delegations to walk out from the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
, and ensuing criticism.
In a sermon in Tehran, which was broadcast on Iran's Channel 1 on 21 February 2014 (as translated by MEMRI), Jannati told a crowd that "If we, the people, are against America, you
ranian leadersmust oppose it too" and that "Death to America" was "the first option on our table...This is the slogan of our entire people without exception. This is our number one slogan."
On hijab
Jannati takes a strong stand in favor of compulsory
hijab, or covering for women. In June 2010, he spoke out against Iranian President Ahmadinejad for his alleged laxness on compulsory hijab in Iran. After Ahmadinejad proposed a "cultural campaign" to combat loose hijab rather than a police crackdown, Jannati responded, "Drug traffickers are hanged, terrorists are executed and robbers are punished for their crimes, but when it comes to the law of God, which is above human rights," some individuals "stay put and speak about cultural programs."
Public image
According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by ''Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC'' (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Jannati has 21% approval and 31% disapproval ratings and thus a –10% net popularity while 36% of Iranian people don't
recognize the name. Jannati has become a target of
ageist stereotyping
joke
A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...
s in Iran.
Sanctions
In February 2020, the
U.S. Treasury Department
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
sanctioned Jannati for "preventing free and fair elections in Iran."
Personal life
Jannati's wife was Sediqeh Mazaheri with whom he had four sons. She died in 2015, and he later remarried. His son Hossein Jannati was a member of
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
and was killed in a street battle by the
Islamic Republic security forces in 1981.
He is also father of
Ali Jannati
Ali Jannati ( fa, علی جنتی, born 1949) is an Iranian politician and former diplomat who served as counselor to the head of Iranian presidential administration, in the second cabinet of Hassan Rouhani. He was minister of culture from 15 A ...
, who served as Minister of Culture.
See also
*
List of Ayatollahs
*
Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...
*
Ahmad Khatami
*
Emami-Kashani
*
Aboutorabi Fard
*
Movahedi-Kermani
*
Haj Ali Akbari
*
Friday prayer
*
References
External links
Membership historyThere is no hope for a free electionJannati and Karroubi debate on the policy for the evaluation of candidates(BBC Persian)
*
ttp://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/530.htm The English Are the Father of the Great SatanExcerpts from a Friday sermon at Tehran University, Feb. 2005
To the U.S: Invade Iran, If You DareFeb. 2007 transcript
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jannati, Ahmad
1927 births
Iranian anti-same-sex-marriage activists
Iranian Islamists
Living people
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom members
Combatant Clergy Association politicians
Iranian individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Islamic Republican Party politicians
Members of the Expediency Discernment Council
Members of the Guardian Council
Speakers of the Assembly of Experts
Iranian ayatollahs
Politicians from Isfahan
Shia clerics from Isfahan
20th-century Iranian politicians