Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

Mohammad Momen (13 January 1938 – 21 February 2019) was a Faqih (a cleric qualified to judge based on Islamic law) and a very influential member of the

Guardian Council The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...

of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Influence in government

He simultaneously sat on the Expediency Discernment Council and the Assembly of Experts, representing the Islamic holy city of

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 ...

in the latter and winning in the

2006 Iranian Assembly of Experts election The fourth Iranian Assembly of Experts election was held on 15 December 2006. The Assembly of Experts is a Council of 86 '' mujtahids'' that elect the Supreme Leader, and oversee his actions. The members of the Assembly are elected every eight y ...

. He gained a very large percentage of the vote. His opponent, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, was a strong supporter and spiritual mentor of President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

, and his victory has been interpreted by some as a sign of dissatisfaction with Ahmedinejad's policies. Because of his political influence in the government, '' Siyasat'', a conservative weekly periodical, had been touted, along with the hard-line conservative

Morteza Moghtadai Ayatollah Morteza Moghtadai (مرتضی مقتدایی) (born 12 October 1935 in Isfahan, Iran) is an Iranian Shia scholar, and deputy chairman of Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom. He was re-elected to the fourth Assembly of Experts. He curr ...

, to be a possible replacement for Judiciary Chief

Mohammad Yazdi.

Political position

He was a moderate conservative,Financial Times
/ref> and was considered to be an excellent student of the

Qur'an 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.: , sing. ...

. He was a notable figure among fundamentalists in Iran. Some considered him to be more of a theologian than a politician.

References

1938 births 2019 deaths Iranian ayatollahs Members of the Expediency Discernment Council Members of the Guardian Council Members of the Assembly of Experts People from Qom Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom members Islamic Republican Party politicians {{Iran-politician-stub