Alireza Panahian
Ali Reza Panahian (also Ali-Reza Panahian; Persian: علیرضا پناهیان; born 1965 Tehran) is an influential Iranian Shiite cleric and official. He is a Hojatoleslam (a "middle-ranked" Shia cleric) and head of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's "think tank for universities."[1] In February 2011 he was among some "70 high-ranking" officials of the Islamic Republic who established an "`Ammar` organization" or "Ammar Headquarters" calling for the "trial and execution" of former presidential candidates and Iranian Green Movement protest leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.[2][3] Raja News has listed him as one of 40-odd "students, confidants and political companions" close to conservative leader Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.[4]
Panahian also addressed the 2010 "Islamic Unity Seminar" in Lahore, Pakistan on the subjects of the Prophet Muhammad's "character and Islamic Unity."[5]
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In July 2010 he issued a statement "calling for the purge of `liberal-minded and clean-shaven` individuals from government offices" and warned against an unnamed "group that 'will wage a war on values under the cover of Islamic slogans and symbols'".
References
- ^ IRAN: Simmering tensions in lead-up to student protest anniversary, LA Times blogs, July 5, 2010
- ^ “Amaar” organization for trial & execution of Karoubi & Mousavi Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, 12 February 2011
- ^ In Iran, Protest Movement, Regime Prepare for February 14 Demonstrations, 13 February 2011
- ^ Mesbah Yazdi's friends and allies, Nov. 9, 2009
- ^ Hojatolislam Ali Reza Panahian addressed the Islamic Unity Seminar in Pakistan