Mohammad-Taghi Khalaji (born March 31, 1948) is an Iranian Shia cleric. He has been described as "a prominent

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

cleric close to reformist clerics Ayatollah

Hussein-Ali Montazeri Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri ( fa, حسینعلی منتظری‎ ; 24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian Shia Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate, writer and human rights activist. He was one of the leade ...

and Ayatollah

Yousef Sane'i Grand Ayatollah Yousef Saanei ( fa, يوسف صانعى; 16 October 1937 – 12 September 2020) was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja' and politician, a member of the Islamic Republic of Iran's powerful Guardian Council from 1980 to 1983 and also ...

."Iran: Reformist cleric Mohammad-Taghi Khalaji arrested Source: Radio Zamaneh, 1/14/2010
/ref> He was arrested on January 13, 2010, taken to Evin Prison in Tehran and as of January 26 was being held "without charge in solitary confinement, without access to a lawyer or family visits."

Overview

Khalaji was the son of a farmer in the province of

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

and came from "a conservative religious background." When he was 5 years old, he moved to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, where his three brothers lived. In 1968, after graduating from high school and then Shokooh English Language Institute, he started to work as a bank accountant. In 1969, under the influence of the rising religious fervor in Iran, he left "his job in the bank and its good salary" and moved to Qom with his fiancée Mohtaram, to begin study in a seminary, becoming the first in his family to be a cleric. In Qom he joined the pro-

Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

clique and became a disciple of Ayatollah

Morteza Motahhari Morteza Motahhari ( fa, مرتضی مطهری, also Romanized as "Mortezā Motahharī"; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to have an important influence on th ...

Revolutionary Ayatollah
BY MEHDI KHALAJI , JANUARY 19, 2010 Before the 1979

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

he was arrested and imprisoned by 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 ...

's regime three times as a political activist, being released for the last time in February 1979 after the Shah had been toppled. His 2010 arrest was by four agents of intelligence ministry and could now face trial in the

Special Court for the Clergy Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics ( fa, دادگاه ویژه روحانیت) is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The ...

. Books, letters, a computer and his family's passports were also confiscated.Iran: Cleric detained for criticizing violations
26 January 2010 It is thought that his arrest may be connected to his plans to visit his son,

Mehdi Khalaji Mehdi Khalaji ( fa, مهدی خلجی, born 21 September 1973) is an Iranian-American writer, scholar of Islamic studies, political analyst and a former Shia cleric. He has been researching at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy since ...

, in the United States, and his son's work with

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

and

Radio Farda Radio Farda ( fa, راديو فردا, lit=Radio Tomorrow, ''Radio Farda'') is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and profession ...

followed by his employment by the

Washington Institute for Near East Policy The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or TWI, also known simply as The Washington Institute) is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. WINE ...

, all organizations "which the Ministry of Intelligence has claimed are involved in a `soft war` to overthrow the Islamic Republic," and banned all Iranians from collaborating with. Another source credits his arrest to "several speeches critical of the authorities" including their "use of violence against peaceful protestors".

References

Iranian ayatollahs Iranian reformists Living people 1948 births Shia clerics from Isfahan {{Iran-reli-bio-stub