Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i (, ; born 29 September 1956) is an Iranian

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician,

Islamic jurist Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious populatio ...

and prosecutor who currently serves as

Chief Justice of Iran The head of the Judicial System of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), often called the chief justice of Iran, is the head of the Judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Head of Judiciary) and is responsible for its administration and super ...

. He was the minister of intelligence from 2005 to July 2009, when he was abruptly dismissed. He has also held a number of governmental posts since 1984.

Early life and education

Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i was born in Ezhiyeh,

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Imperial State of Iran Imperial is that which relates to an empire, Emperor, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania ...

, in 1956. He is a graduate of the Haqqani school in

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

and one of his teachers was Mesbah Yazdi. He also received a master's degree in international law from the Haqqani school.

Career

Mohseni-Eje'i served as Head of the Ministry of Intelligence's Select Committee from 1984 to 1985. He was then Representative of the Head of Judiciary to the Ministry of Intelligence (1986–88). From 1989 to 1990, he served as Head of the Prosecutor's Office for economic affairs. Next, he held the post of Representative of the Head of Judiciary to the Ministry of Intelligence, from 1991 to 1994. His next post was Prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court, which he held from 1995 to 1997. He was appointed Minister of Intelligence on 24 August 2005 after securing 217 votes in his favor at the

Majlis (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

. He was in office until 26 July 2009, when he was abruptly dismissed. No reason was given for his dismissal, but it was thought to be connected to his opposition to the appointment of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei as first vice-president. As a spokesman for the judiciary, he has also been accountable to the media and journalists.

Prosecutor general

Shortly after his dismissal, on 24 August 2009, he was appointed Prosecutor general of Iran by the Head of Judiciary,

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

Sadeq Larijani, replacing

Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi (; born 3 December 1950) is an Iranian politician and cleric. He is currently a member of the Assembly of Experts and also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council. He was previously the Minister of Intelligen ...

Special Clerical Court

In 1998, with the ruling of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, ⁣ he succeeded

Mohammad Reyshahri Mohammad Reyshahri (), also known as Mohammad Mohammadi-Nik (29 October 1946 – 21 March 2022), was an Iranian politician, cleric, judge and religious scholar, who notably served as Chief Judge of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal (1979–1984 ...

, who held the position of Attorney General of the Special Clerical Court. He has also been the Special Prosecutor for the Clergy for two years. One notable incident during his tenure at Special Clergy court is having a fight with Eisa Saharkhiz and biting him.

Scientific records

Mohseni Ejei has a teaching background in the Baqer al-Uloom College of the Ministry of Intelligence, teaching in the educational department of the Revolutionary Courts, as well as the Faculty of Judicial Sciences.

Activities and views

In 2000, Eje'i was named by journalist Akbar Ganji as having personally ordered the killing of Pirouz Davani, one of the 80+ Iranian intellectuals murdered in the Chain murders of Iran. On 15 July 2009, Mohseni-Eje'i told reporters that his ministry might publicize confessions made by people held for weeks without access to their lawyers. He said, "The confessions obtained from those arrested could be made public, should the Judiciary decide to air their remarks." Human rights activists raised concerns that "these so-called confessions are obtained under duress." After his dismissal, president

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

praised Mohsen-Eje'i as a good human being, but said his removal was necessary as the ministry needed huge changes to cope with the situation. He further said if the ministry had done its job properly, there would not have been post-election bloody riots in which some people died, but he stopped short of criticizing Mohseni-Eje'i as responsible for them. According to

Stratfor Strategic Forecasting Inc., commonly known as Stratfor, is an American strategic intelligence publishing company founded in 1996. Stratfor's business model is to provide individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online p ...

, Mohseni-Eje'i is a conservative hardliner affiliated with hardline cleric Mohammad Yazdi. Mohsen-Eje'i has indicated he would welcome alternative punishments to the death penalty for some drug traffickers, if these alternatives proposed by teachers were more effective punishments than the death penalty. However, he stated that, so far, critics of the death penalty in Iran have not offered alternatives that would deal effectively with Iran's drug gangs.

Sanctions

Mohseni-Eje'i was among several Iranian officials that were sanctioned in 2011 by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

for his role in suppressing the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests.Iran names hardline cleric as top judge amid calls for probe
aljazeera.com, Retrieved 28 November 2021

References

External links

Mohseni Ezhei: From Inquisitor to Minister of Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohseni-Ejeie, Gholam-Hossein 1956 births Living people People from Isfahan province Chief justices of Iran Ministers of intelligence of Iran Islamic Republican Party politicians Iranian prosecutors Iranian Shia clerics Shia Islamists Qadis Iranian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions 20th-century Iranian people 21st-century Iranian politicians