Mohammad-Javad Larijani

Mohammad-Javad Larijani
International Deputy for Chief Justice
Secretary of High Council for Human rights
Assumed office
27 July 2004
Appointed by Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office
28 May 1992 – 28 May 2000
Constituency Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Personal details
Born 1951 (age 65–66)
Najaf, Iraq
Alma mater UC Berkeley
Sharif University of Technology
Qom Seminary

Mohammad-Javad Larijani (Persian: محمدجواد لاریجانی‎‎) is an Iranian conservative politician, mathematical logician and former diplomat. He is currently a top adviser to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in foreign affairs and secretary of High Council for Human rights, Judiciary of Islamic Republic of Iran.[1]

He has been a key planner of Iran's foreign policy, and led the ceasefire negotiations after Iran–Iraq War.

Early life and education

Larijani is the son of Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli and a brother of Ali Larijani, the current chairman of the Parliament and Sadegh Larijani, the current chief justice.[2] Larijani is a cousin of Ahmad Tavakkoli, who is the current director of Majlis Research Center.

Larijani, raised in a religious family, graduated from a hawza before starting his higher education in electrical engineering in Sharif University of Technology, wearing the uniform for the full four years. He later continued his studies outside Iran, in the Ph.D. program in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a professor at Imam Sadegh University and Sharif University of Technology.

Career

Larijani is the head of the human rights council in the judiciary and one of the top advisors to the supreme leader. Additionally Larijani has been the director of Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics in Tehran. Previously, he was a Majlis representative and the director of Majlis Research Center. He served as deputy minister of foreign affairs in the 1980s.[2]

Views

In a 2010 NBC News interview, Larijani defended the arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian feminist activist, and a prominent human rights lawyer. Sotoudeh was detained in September and faces trial for "collusion against national security" and "spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.".[3] Larijani told NBC News that Iranian authorities believed that she was engaged "in a very nasty campaign" against Iran's national security. Nasrin Sotoudeh works for Shirin Ebadi's law firm. Shirin Ebadi is the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

In May 2011, Larijani threatened to allow free passage of drug smugglers through Iran.[4]

In November 2011, Larijani claimed that nuclear weapons violate Islam.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Is Iran judiciary open to negotiating on human rights?". Al-Monitor. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 Katzman, Kenneth (17 June 2013). "Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses" (CRS Report for US Congress). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Death penalty unlikely for rights lawyer". NBC News. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Now Iran threatens to allow transit of Afghan drugs to Europe unless we stop criticizing them Daily Mail, 14 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Iranian official: Islam is against nukes, 17 November 2011, The Washington Examiner
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