Mohammad-Javad Bahonar (, 5 September 1933 – 30 August 1981) was a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Iranian theologian and politician who served as the

Prime Minister of Iran The prime minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...

for less than one month in August 1981. Bahonar and other members of Mohammad-Ali Rajai's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

were

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

by Mujahideen-e Khalq.

Early life

Mohammad Javad Bahonar was born on 3 September 1933 in

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

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 ...

. His father was a simple tradesman and had a little shop in the city of Kerman. He was the second child of nine in a very poor family. As a child, he was taught the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

at the local Makk-tab-Khaneh (parochial school attended by the students very often at the house of local mullah before national school system was put in place) also learning to read and write in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Guided by the Ayatollah Haghighi, he studied at the Masoumieh seminary. At the same time he could obtain the degree of fifth of ancient school.

Education

Bahonar passed his primary school at Masoumieh School of

. In 1953, he went to

Qom Seminary The Qom Seminary (') is the largest and one of the foremost Shia Islam, Shia hawzas (Islamic seminaries), located in the city of Qom, Iran. It is the largest seminary in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom to ...

and attended in the class of

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

, the leader of

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. He received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in theology from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

. Also, he was faculty member of the Tehran University and taught theology.

Revolutionary activities

Before Iranian revolution

Bahonar was a reviler of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

and had activities against Mohammad Reza Shah that led to his imprisonment in 1963, 1964, and 1975. On 1963, he was jailed for opposing the Shah's

White Revolution The White Revolution () or the Shah and People Revolution () was a far-reaching series of reforms to aggressively modernize the Pahlavi Iran, Imperial State of Iran launched on 26 January 1963 by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and ended with ...

. Also, during the time of Khomeini's exile to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he continued his revolutionary activities and was an influential member among Khomeini's followers. Bahonar along with Morteza Motahari was active speaker of Hosseiniyeh Ershad, a religious lecture hall in the Tehran.

After Iranian revolution

Upon release from custody, Bahonar did not engage in further activism until Khomeini became Iran's de facto ruler. For his service in the revolution, Bahonar became the new government's minister of culture and Islamic guidance in 1981, and was responsible for censoring any media disapproved by Muslim leaders in Tehran. He also directed a purge of all secular influence from Iranian universities. He became a founding member of the Islamic Republican party and an original member of the

Council of Revolution of Iran The Council of the Islamic Revolution () was a group formed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to manage the Iranian Revolution on 10 January 1979, shortly before he returned to Iran. "Over the next few months there issued from the council hundreds ...

. He was also a member of the

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...

. Bahonar along with Mohammad Ali Rajai purged Iranian universities of western cultural influences in what is known as the Islamic Cultural Revolution. After the assassination of

Mohammad Beheshti Sayyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti (; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, poetic philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the Revolution. Beheshti is co ...

on 28 June 1981, he was appointed general secretary of the party where he was also a member of the central committee. Bahonar served as the minister of culture and Islamic guidance under Mohammad Ali Rajai's prime ministry from March 1981 to August 1981. When Rajai became president on 5 August 1981, he chose Bahonar as his prime minister.

Assassination

Bahonar was assassinated along with Rajai and other members of the

Islamic Republican Party The Islamic Republican Party (IRP; , also translated Islamic Republic Party) was formed in 1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini in their goal to establish theocracy in Iran. It was disbanded in 1987 due to internal confl ...

when a bomb exploded at the party's office in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

on 30 August 1981. In Iran, this explosion is known as the ''Hashteh-Shahrivar bombing''. The bomb was set off when one of the victims opened a briefcase. The briefcase was carried by Massoud Keshmiri, a security official at the Islamic Republican Party, to the meeting. One week later, Keshmiri was announced as responsible for planning and executing the assassination. Keshmiri was identified as an operative of

Mujahedin ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

that was supported by

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

. He tried to assassinate Rajai and Bahonar on 22 August when Rajai introduced his cabinet to

. Ahmad Khomeini explained that Keshmiri was with Rajai when they came to see Imam Khomeini. He had a suitcase but they did not allow him to bring it. He died at the age of 47. Iranian authorities announced that Massoud Keshmiri, "a close aide to the late President Muhammad Ali Rajai and secretary of the Supreme Security Council, had been responsible." Keshmiri, an MEK member who was thought to have died in the explosion, "was accorded a martyr's funeral" and was "buried alongside Rajai and Bahonar." Various MEK supporters were arrested and executed in reprisal, but Kashmiri apparently slipped through the dragnet. The reaction to both bombings was intense with many arrests and executions of MEK and other leftist groups.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahonar, Mohammad Javad 1933 births 1981 deaths Academic staff of the University of Tehran Islamic Republican Party secretaries-general Prime ministers of Iran Education ministers of Iran Assassinated Iranian politicians Assassinated prime ministers Assassinated Shiite clerics Burials at Behesht-e Zahra People of the Iranian Revolution Iranian revolutionaries Deaths by explosive device Islamic Association of Teachers of Iran politicians Combatant Clergy Association politicians Islamic Coalition Party politicians People assassinated by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran Council of the Islamic Revolution members Iranian Shia clerics Members of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution People from Kerman province Central Council of the Islamic Republican Party members Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies of the University of Tehran alumni Asian politicians assassinated in the 1980s Assassinated leaders of political parties Politicians assassinated in 1981