Mahmoud Alavi

Mahmoud Alavi
Minister of Intelligence
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 August 2013
President	Hassan Rouhani
Preceded by	Heydar Moslehi
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office 3 May 1992 – 4 May 2000
Constituency	Lamerd
Majority	45,876 (63%)[1]
In office 17 September 1981[2] – 3 May 1988
Constituency	Larestan
Personal details
Born	4 May 1954 Lamerd, Fars province, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Political party	Resistance Front of Islamic Iran
Alma mater	Ferdowsi University
Religion	Islam

Mahmoud Alavi (محمود علوی in Persian; born 4 May 1954) is an Iranian cleric, politician and the minister of intelligence in Hassan Rouhani's government.

Early life

Alavi was born in Lamerd, Fars province, in 1954.^[3][4] He holds a PhD in Islamic jurisprudence and law from Ferdowsi University in Mashad.^[5]

Career

Alavi is a cleric and a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence.^[6][7] He holds the religious rank of Hojjatoleslam.^[8] He is the former head of the political and ideological body of the Iranian Army to which he was appointed by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.^[9] Alavi served in the post from 2000 to August 2009.^[6][8] In addition, Alavi was Khamenei's special representative in the army until August 2009.^[8] He also assumed the post of deputy defense minister.^[4]

He served at the Majlis as Tehran representative for four terms during the terms of former presidents Rafsanjani and Khatami.^[10][11] He ran for office in the list of Resistance Front of the Islamic Revolution led by Mohsen Rezaee in the 2012 election.^[12] However, Alavi's nomination was rejected by the Guardian Council on the grounds that he did not have "practical commitment to Islam and the regime."^[12][13]

He is a member of the Assembly of Experts.^[6][14] He served as Hasan Rouhani’s liaison officer for the city of Qom and the institutions there in the 2013 presidential elections.^[15] Alavi was designated as intelligence minister by Rouhani on 4 August 2013.^[16] He was approved for the post on 15 August by the Majlis with 227 Yes votes.^[17]

Views

Ali Reza Eshraghi of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill argues that Alavi is a principalist politician in the Iranian political arena.^[13] He is, therefore, a conservative figure^[18] and close to Mohsen Rezaee.^[9] Alavi publicly criticized the Ali Akbar Rafsanjani's disqualification for the 2013 presidential election soon after the election.^[6]

References

1. "Parliament members". Iranian Parliament. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
2. نگاهی به سوابق هیات وزیران دولت یازدهم Tabnak
3. Alfoneh, Ali (5 August 2013). "All the President’s Men: Rouhani’s Cabinet" (Policy Brief). Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
4. "Biography of proposed minister of intelligence". IRNA. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
5. "Rouhani's proposed cabinet line-up". Iran Daily. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
6. Pedram, Ali M. (8 August 2013). "Controversy surrounding new intelligence minister of Iran". Asharq Al Awsat (London). Retrieved 13 August 2013.
7. "Iran's New President Rouhani Takes Oath of Office". NPR (Tehran). 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
8. "Sweeping Changes in Military and Intelligence Leadership" (Report). Rooz. 4 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
9. Memarian, Jahandad (8 August 2013). "New Iranian Cabinet Nominees: Building Bridges Between Factions to Yield Reform". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
10. "Hassan Rouhani's New List of Ministers Unveiled". Haberler. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
11. "Rohani's recruits". The Economist. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
12. Sahimi, Mohammad (28 February 2012). "Iran's Parliamentary Elections, Part II: The Role of the Military". PBS. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
13. Eshraghi, Ali Reza (7 August 2013). "Iran's proposed cabinet: The old guard is back in charge". CNN. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
14. "Former nuke negotiator joins Iran presidential race". Jerusalem Post (Dubai). Reuters. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
15. "Rouhani’s Cabinet Seeks New Balance in Iranian Policies". Iranian. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
16. Aneja, Atul (4 August 2013). "Rouhani formally sworn in as Iran's President". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
17. "Iranian Parliament Gives Vote of Confidence to Majority of Rouhani’s Proposed Ministers". Fars News. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
18. Randjbar Daemi, Siavush (8 August 2013). "In Iran, Rowhani’s first cabinet strikes a complex balance". The Conversation. Retrieved 11 August 2013.

External links