The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers (also Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom)Opposition Holds Firm in Iran
Robert Dreyfuss on 6 July 2009, Retrieved 10 July 2009 is a political party and association of

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

ic clerics in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

's religious capital of Qom. It was founded in 2001, as a support group for the Reformist movement and then-President of Iran

Mohammad Khatami Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critic ...

. Many of its members were students of Ayatollah Montazeri, who was a major patron of the association until his death in 2009. Ayatollah Musavi Tabrizi serves as its Secretary-General and representative to the House of Parties of Iran. He became their leader in 2004 when their first leader Ayatollah Abayi Khorasani died. It has been linked to the '' marājiʿ'' Ayatollah Sane’i and Ayatollah Ardabili.

International notice

The Assembly became more widely known outside of

after its criticism of the 12 June 2009 Iranian presidential election. The group criticized the election vote counting system and the Iranian

Guardian Council The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, ) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The constitution ...

in a statement saying the Council no longer had the "right to judge in this case as some of its members have lost their

impartial Impartiality (also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness) is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over anothe ...

image in the eyes of the public."Pro-reform clerical body protests Iran elections
5 July 2009, Retrieved 10 July 2009 The Assembly also released a joint statement demanding new electionsThe Daily Beast, Reza Aslan
/ref> as well a statement condemning the state-sponsored detention and killing of anti-

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

protesters. In November 2024, the Assembly caused controversy by appearing to endorse the

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

, which would tacitly imply an acceptance of the existence of the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, contrary to the hardline official Iranian position which completely rejects its existence.

References

External links

Official website
{{Iranian political parties Shia organizations Reformist political groups in Iran Iranian clerical political groups Qom Seminary

International notice

See also

References

External links