Mohammad-Reza Bahonar

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 May 2011
Preceded by	Hassan Aboutorabi Fard
In office 6 June 2004 – 26 May 2010
Preceded by	Mohammad-Reza Khatami
Succeeded by	Hassan Aboutorabi Fard
Secretary General of the ISE
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 March 2001
Preceded by	Morteza Nabavi
Member of Parliament of Iran
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 May 1984
Constituency	Kerman (1984–1996) Tehran (since 1996)
Personal details
Born	(1952-02-02) February 2, 1952 Kerman, Iran
Political party	Islamic Society of Engineers
Alma mater	Tehran University
Religion	Shia Islam

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar (Persian: محمدرضا باهنر‎, born 2 February 1952) is an Iranian politician and academic who is currently a member of the Parliament of Iran and also its first deputy speaker. He is secretary general of Islamic Society of Engineers, one of the conservatives' main parties in the country.

Early years

Bahonar was born on 2 February 1952 in Kerman. He is the brother of former Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar who was assassinated in 1981^[1] and also uncle of Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, one of the Ahmadinejad's advisers and his campaign manager during 2009 election.

Career

Bahonar cofounded the Islamic Society of Engineers in 1991.^[1] He has been elected as a representative from Kerman and Tehran for six terms.^[1] He also served at the Expediency Council for three terms.^[1] He is considered a key member of the conservative alliance, and was considered a possible candidate for the post of the speaker or the leader of the conservative faction in the parliament. He later refused to run for the post of speaker possibly because of a deal made inside the conservative alliance, so he decided to run for the post of deputy speaker. He became the first deputy speaker on 6 June 2004 with 188 votes out of 259. The other running candidate for the post of deputy speaker was Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard, a representative from Qazvin who became the second deputy speaker with 173 votes. Bahonar was in office until 26 May 2010. He was reelected to the post on 26 May 2011.

Following Hassan Rouhani's election as President, Bahonar was appointed by Chairman Ali Larijani as the parliament's liaison to the newly elected executive branch in transition mandate.^[2]

Views

Bahonar, also the leader of the Islamic Society of Engineers, backs commercial capitalism, and represents the technocrats of the conservative alliance. He believes in a free economy, but controlled cultural and political activities. He mentioned that he prefers Iran to get involved in commerce, but not industry.

Attacking Iranian University students

In a speech at Shiraz University, Bahonar harshly attacked students of Amirkabir University who criticized Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in December 2006. His lecture generated anger among the students. He also called for punishing the students, while accusing them of being sex and alcohol addicts.^[3]

On 11 December 2006, students disrupted a speech by Ahmadinejad at the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. According to the Iranian Student News Agency, students set fire to photographs of Ahmadinejad and threw firecrackers. The protesters also chanted "death to the dictator". It was the first major public protest against Ahmadinejad since his election. In a statement carried on the students' Web site, they announced that they had been protesting the growing political pressure under Ahmadinejad, also accusing him of corruption, mismanagement, and discrimination. "The students showed that despite vast propaganda, the president has not been able to deceive academia," the statement added. It was also reported that some students were angry about the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust. A student activist was quoted as saying the conference was "shameful" and had "brought to our country Nazis and racists from around the world." On the one hand, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss was invited by Ahmadinejad and gave a speech at the conference concerning Orthodox Jewish Attitude to the Holocaust. However, controversial figure and former Imperial Wizard of the KKK David Duke was also invited to attend.^[4]

References