Mohammad Momen

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Ayatollah Mohammad Momen is a Faqih (a cleric qualified to judge based on Islamic law) and a very influential member of the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[edit] Influence in government

He simultaneously sits on the Expediency Discernment Council and the Assembly of Experts, representing the Islamic holy city of Qom in the latter and winning in the Iranian Assembly of Experts election, 2006. He gained a very large percentage of the vote^[1]. His opponent, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Mesbah-Yazdi, was a strong supporter and spiritual mentor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his victory has been interpreted by some as a sign of dissatisfaction with Ahmedinejad's policies. Because of his political influence in the government, Siyasat, a conservative weekly periodical, has been touted, along with the hard-line conservative Ayatollah Morteza Moqtadai, to be a possible replacement for Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi^[2]. Some have even said that he may succeed Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, though this is very unlikely.

[edit] Political position

He is a moderate conservative^[3], and is considered to be an excellent student of the Qur'an. He is a notable figure among fundamentalists in Iran. Some consider him to be more of a theologian than a politician.