Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi ( fa, مصطفی پورمحمدی; born 9 March 1960,

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 ...

) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

politician and prosecutor, who has served at different positions and cabinet posts. He was minister of interior from 2005 to 2008 and minister of justice from 2013 until 2017. Pourmohammadi is reportedly implicated in the

1988 Massacre of Iranian Prisoners The 1988 executions of prisoners were a series of mass executions of political prisoners across Iran. The order for the executions was given by Ayatollah Khomeini and it was carried out by Iranian officials; starting on 19 July 1988 and continu ...

.Interior Minister Pour-Mohammadi and Iranian Human Rights Abuses
''U.S. State Department'' 11 October 2006

Early life and education

Pourmohammadi was born in

in 1960. However, IRNA reports his birth year as 1959. He was educated in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

, principles of jurisprudence, and philosophy in the Haqqani seminary in Qom. He completed his education in extra-jurisprudence and principles in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

, Qom, and

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 ...

. He holds a level four jurisprudence and Islamic law degree, which is equivalent of a PhD.

Career

Pourmohammadi was prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court in Bandar Abbas, Kermanshah and Mashhad from 1979 to 1986. Next he served as prosecutor of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Court in the western regions in 1986. He was appointed deputy intelligence minister in 1987 under the then intelligence minister

Hojjatoleslam Ali Fallahian Ali Fallahian ( fa, علی فلاحیان , born 23 October 1949) is an Iranian politician and cleric. He served as intelligence minister from 1989 to 1997 under the presidency of Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. Early life and education Fallahian was b ...

during the term of the former president

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

. He was also named director the ministry's counterintelligence directorate. From 1997 to 1998 Pourmohammadi served as the director of the ministry's foreign directorate. His term as deputy intelligence minister ended in 1999. In addition, he was acting deputy minister of information from 1997 to 1999. He also served as member and head of the board of trustees of Center for Islamic Revolution Documents. He was appointed by supreme leader

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 o ...

as the head of the political and social department of his office in 2003. On 24 August 2005, Pourmohammadi was appointed interior minister by Ahmadinejad. The Majlis approved him as minister with 153 votes in favor. In an effort to end the plight of refugees, Pourmohammadi attended a meeting of the

UN High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integratio ...

on 10 October 2006 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He was removed from office in a cabinet reshuffle in May 2008. He was dismissed allegedly for informing Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali 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 ...

about the electoral irregularities without the consent of Ahmedinejad. Then Pourmohammadi was appointed head of Iran's general inspectorate office. He announced his candidacy for the 2013 presidential election in March 2013 but withdrew in favor of

Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki ( fa, منوچهر متکی; born 12 May 1953) is an Iranian politician and diplomat. He was the Iranian minister of foreign affairs. Whilst technically appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is considered to be closer to more pr ...

. On 4 August 2013, Pourmohammadi was nominated by newly elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...

as the

minister of justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

and was confirmed on 15 August by the Majlis. On 2 August 2017, he was announced that he will not be part of Rouhani's second government.

Controversy

During his tenure as deputy intelligence minister, Pourmohammadi is reportedly implicated in the

based on the orders of Ayatollah

Ruhollah 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 ...

and other key politicians. According to

Grand Ayatollah Hossein-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 ...

, he was "the representative of the Ministry of Information in charge of questioning prisoners in Evin Prison" during the massacre. Montazeri saw Pourmohammadi as being "a central figure" in the mass executions of prisoners in Tehran. In 2016, Mohammadi said: "We are proud to have carried out God’s commandment concerning the

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 ...

… I am at peace and have not lost any sleep all these years because I acted in accordance with law and Islam". His nomination as justice minister in August 2013 was criticized by three international organizations, namely

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, on 8 August and these organizations requested the withdrawal of his nomination for the post of justice minister due to his controversial past tenure.

Personal life

Pourmohammadi is married and has four children.

COVID-19 outbreak

During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Iran Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, there were unconfirmed reports about he having been taken to hospital for coronavirus symptoms, and later tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

, the virus that causes

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Later he discharged from hospital.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pourmohammadi, Mostafa 1960 births Living people Iranian Islamists Shia Islamists Government ministers of Iran People from Qom Iranian prosecutors Imam Sadiq University faculty Deputies of the Ministry of Intelligence (Iran) Ministers of Justice of Iran Combatant Clergy Association Secretaries-General