Misplaced Pages

Ali Motahhari
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office 28 May 2008 – 26 May 2020
Constituency	Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Majority	1,447,713 (44.58%)
Personal details
Born	(1958-01-26) 26 January 1958 (age 66) Tehran, Iran
Political party	Voice of the Nation
Other political affiliations	Electoral lists United Front of Principlists (2008) Principlists Pervasive Coalition (2008) List of Hope (2016) Parliamentary groups Principlists (2008–12) Followers of Wilayat (2012–16) Hope (2016–20)
Spouse	Narges Ansari ​(m. 1982)​
Children	4
Parent(s)	Morteza Motahhari Azam "Aliyeh" Rouhani
Relatives	Ali Larijani (brother-in-law)
Alma mater	University of Tehran
Profession	University professor Publisher
Website	alimotahari.com

Ali Motahhari (Persian: علی مطهری; born 26 January 1958) is an Iranian conservative politician. He is also named as a sort of conservative reformist, who represented Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He was Second Deputy of the Parliament of Iran from 2016 until 2019.

Motahhari is described as an orthodox politician with liberal conservative and moderate conservative views. He is the leader of the People's Voice Coalition.

Motahhari heads Sadra Publications and teaches at University of Tehran, where he gained a PhD in philosophy.

Biography

Ali Motahhari was born in Tehran. His father is noted Islamic scholar Morteza Motahhari.

Motahari is a brother-in-law of the current Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani, and a harsh critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He criticized Ahmadinejad for his "self-centered" policies saying: "It is unprecedented and inappropriate that a president simply says I do not accept this law and will not execute it. This is a sign of despotism." Motahhari tried to summon Ahmadinejad to parliament to face questioning and possible impeachment. Though a conservative, he has been something of a maverick.

On 13 March 2015, Motahari was injured in an attack by "motorcycle thugs" before giving a speech at Shiraz University.

In 2020, he suggested that the Islamic Republic was to partially blame for the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, saying "We have scared the Arabs and pushed them towards Israel. An example of this is storming the Saudi embassy and setting it ablaze. The policy of making Iran the enemy has been fruitful. This needs to be remedied." This was a highly unusual response contrasted to that of other Iranian politicians.

On April 6, 2021, Motahari sparked controversy after he said in a podcast that European men were "not aroused and women are resorting to African men."

Electoral history

Year	Election	Votes	%	Rank	Notes
2008	Parliament	571,071	32.80	3rd	Won
2012	Parliament Round 1	455,303	22.77	9th	Went to Round 2
	Parliament Round 2	380,653	33.79	4th	Won
2016	Parliament	1,447,714	44.58	2nd	Won
2020	Parliament	—			Disqualified
2021	President	—			Disqualified

Public image

According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Motahhari has 36% approval and 15% disapproval ratings and thus a +21% net popularity; while 40% of responders don't recognize the name.

References

1. ^ "asemanweekly.com". Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
2. "آشنایی با دکتر علی مطهری". Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
3. Banafsheh Keynoush (2012), "Iran after Ahmadinejad", Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 54 (3), New York: Springer Science+Business Media: 127–146, doi:10.1080/00396338.2012.690988, S2CID 153661674
4. Ariabarzan Mohammadi (2014), The path dependent nature of factionalism in post-Khomeini Iran (Discussion Paper), Durham University, p. 26
5. A conservative reformist bartarinha.ir Retrieved 6 April 2020
6. Politically, Motahari is reformist irna.ir Retrieved 6 April 2020
7. Motahari: I'm reformist in politic... rajanews.com Retrieved 6 April 2020
8. "Glossary of Iranian Political Terms", Iranian Diplomacy, 21 March 2010, retrieved 20 August 2017
9. pbs.org
10. "tehrantimes.com". Archived from the original on 2014-09-16. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
11. Katayoun Kishi (February 24, 2016). "Iran's Election Coalitions". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
12. Barel, Zvi (15 February 2012). "In election-season Iran, domestic politics trump fear of Israeli attack". Haaretz. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
13. ^ "Ahmadinejad Files Suit Against Conservative MP". insideIRAN. 2010-08-02. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
14. "Iran Feature: MP Ali Motahari Publicly Attacked and Injured After Criticism of Hardliners - What Next?". 14 March 2015.
15. "Why is Iran concerned about the peace agreement between the UAE and Israel?". Atlantic Council. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
16. Itzchakov, Doron (2020). "Iran and the Israel-UAE Deal". The Israel-UAE Peace: 39–42.
17. "Iran pres candidate gives racist/sexist rant: Women resort to African men". The Jerusalem Post. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
18. "نتيجه قطعي انتخابات تهران اعلام شد", Fars News Agency (in Persian), 17 March 2008, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 10 February 2016
19. "۵۲۷ کاندیدای تهران در انتخابات ۱۲ اسفند چقدر رای آوردند؟", Khabaronline (in Persian), 18 March 2012, archived from the original on 19 March 2017, retrieved 10 February 2016
20. نتایج نهایی و رسمی مرحله دوم انتخابات تهران + گرایش سیاسی. Asr Iran (in Persian). 16 May 2012. 212705. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
21. "ریز آمار نتایج 1021 کاندیدای نمایندگی مجلس در تهران + فیلم مرور روز انتخابات", Iranian Students' News Agency (in Persian), 27 February 2016, retrieved 27 February 2016
22. "ظریف محبوب‌ترین چهره سیاسی ایران". Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (in Persian). 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

External links

• Interview by PBS

• 1958 births
• Living people
• Members of the 10th Islamic Consultative Assembly
• Iranian publishers (people)
• Members of the 9th Islamic Consultative Assembly
• Members of the 8th Islamic Consultative Assembly
• Voice of Nation politicians
• Followers of Wilayat fraction members
• Second Deputies of Islamic Consultative Assembly
• Politicians from Tehran
• University of Tehran alumni
• Academic staff of the University of Tehran
• Iranian politicians who have crossed the floor
• Morteza Motahhari