Mohammad-Ali Rajai

Mohammad Ali Rajai (Persian: محمدعلی رجایی) was the second elected President of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981, after serving as Prime Minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs from 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981, while he was Prime Minister. He was assassinated in a bombing on 30 August 1981, along with prime minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar.

Early life and career

Mohammad-Ali Rajai was born on 15 June 1933 in Qazvin, Iran. His father, Abdulsamad, died when Mohammad-Ali was only 4 years old, after which he lived with his mother and brother. Rajai grew up in Qazvin, and moved to Tehran in 1946. After moving to Tehran, he had a close relationship with the anti-Shah groups and parties. He known with Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani. In 1958, He moved to Bijar for a short period, but after a year, he moved back to Tehran and graduated with a degree in Education from Tarbiat Moallem University in 1959.[1] He was arrested by the Shah's government in May 1974, but was set free after four years.

He was actively involved in the Iranian Revolution and was a leader in the movement to purge Iranian universities of American and European influences, which was later called the Cultural Revolution.

Ministerial posts

After the Iranian Revolution, he became Minister of Education in the government of Mehdi Bazargan, and although Bazargan's Cabinet resigned in 6 November 1979, Rajai did not resign and remained a minister until 12 August 1980, when he became prime minister. When Bani Sadr became the president of Iran in the first presidential election, he had to nominate a new prime minister, and after 5 months, he nominated Rajai for the position, and parliament voted him in. He appointed Khodapanahi as Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani as Interior Minister and Javad Fakori as Defence Minister. During his prime ministership, Iran-Iraq War was started and his government's first policy became the "victory and defense". He was in office until 2 August 1981, when he became the second president of Iran.

Presidency

Banisadr was impeached on 22 June 1981 by parliament, and Khomeini held a Provisional Presidential Council by 6 people headed by Mohammad Beheshti and later Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili. Rajai was one of the members of that Council. He nominated himself for the presidential election in 1981. He became the second president and the first president from the Islamic Republican Party after winning 91% of the votes. He officially became the president after Oath of Office in 2 August 1981.^[1] He named Mohammad-Javad Bahonar to the Parliament to become the next prime minister. Parliament voted in to Bahonar and he formed a new government.

Assassination

On 30 August 1981, President Rajai held a meeting of Iran's Supreme Defense Council, along with the Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar. Witnesses later stated that a trusted aide brought a briefcase into the conference room, set it between the two leaders, and then left. Another person opened the case, triggering a bomb that set the room ablaze and killed Rajai, Bahonar, and three others.^[2] The assassin was identified as Massoud Kashmiri, an operative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (also known as the MKO, MEK and PMOI), who had infiltrated the Prime Minister's office in the guise of a state security official. Rajai was buried in Behesht-e Zahra.

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