Mahmoud Taleghani

Mahmoud Alaei Taleghani (5 March 1911 – 9 September 1979) was an Iranian Shia cleric, revolutionary and activist who was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution, which overthrew Pahlavi-ruled Iran and established the modern-day Islamic Republic of Iran.

A founding member of the Freedom Movement of Iran, he has been described as a representative of the tendency of many "Shia clerics to blend Shia with Marxist ideals in order to compete with leftist movements for youthful supporters" during the 1960s and 1970s. His greatest influence has been said to have been in his teaching of Quranic exegesis, as many later revolutionaries were his students. He was Tehran's first Friday Prayer Imam after the Iranian Revolution, succeeding Hassan Emami.