| Mohammad-Ali Rajai | |
| Birth Date: | 15 June 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Qazvin, Imperial State of Persia |
| Death Place: | Tehran, Iran |
| Resting Place: | Behesht-e Zahra |
| Order: | 2nd |
| Office: | President of Iran |
| Term Start: | 2 August 1981 |
| Term End: | 30 August 1981 |
| 1Blankname: | Supreme Leader |
| 1Namedata: | Ruhollah Khomeini |
| 2Blankname: | Prime Minister |
| 2Namedata: | Mohammad-Javad Bahonar |
| Predecessor: | Abolhassan Banisadr (June 1981) |
| Successor: | Ali Khamenei (October 1981) |
| Order2: | 42nd |
| Office2: | Prime Minister of Iran |
| Term Start2: | 12 August 1980 |
| Term End2: | 2 August 1981 |
| President2: | Abolhassan Banisadr vacant |
| Predecessor2: | Mehdi Bazargan (1979) |
| Successor2: | Mohammad Javad Bahonar |
| Office3: | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran |
| Term Start3: | 11 March 1981 |
| Term End3: | 15 August 1981 |
| Primeminister3: | Himself |
| President3: | Abolhassan Banisadr |
| Successor3: | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| Office4: | Minister of Education of Iran |
| Term Start4: | November 1979 |
| Term End4: | 28 May 1980 |
| Primeminister4: | Mehdi Bazargan |
| Predecessor4: | Gholam-Hossein Shokouhi |
| Successor4: | Mohammad Javad Bahonar |
| Office5: | Member of the Parliament of Iran |
| Term Start5: | 28 May 1980 |
| Term End5: | 1 August 1981 |
| Constituency5: | Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr |
| Majority5: | 1,209,012 (56.6%) |
| Office6: | Head of Mostazafan Foundation |
| Appointer6: | Ruhollah Khomeini |
| Term Start6: | 17 September 1980 |
| Term End6: | 30 August 1981 |
| Predecessor6: | Alinaghi Khamoushi |
| Successor6: | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| Party: | Islamic Republican Party Islamic Association of Teachers of Iran |
| Otherparty: | Freedom Movement (Until 1979) People's Mujahedin (Until 1975) |
| Alma Mater: | Tarbiat Moallem University |
| Children: | 3 |
| Signature: | Mohammad-Ali Rajai signature.svg |
| Native Name Lang: | fa |
Mohammad-Ali Rajai (Persian: محمدعلی رجایی; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was an Iranian politician who served as the second president of Iran from 2 August 1981 until his assassination four weeks later. Before his presidency, Rajai had served as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr, while concurrently occupying the position of foreign affairs minister from 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981. He died in a bombing on 30 August 1981 along with then-prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar.
Mohammad-Ali Rajai was born on 15 June 1933 in Qazvin, Iran.[1] His father, a shopkeeper named Abdolsamad, died when he was four years old.[2] [3] Rajai grew up in Qazvin and moved to Tehran in the late 1940s. He joined the Air Force at age sixteen or seventeen.[4] In 1959, he graduated from Tarbiat Moallem University with a degree in education, later working as a teacher of mathematics.
After moving to Tehran, Rajai became involved in the anti-Shah movement and associated with Mahmoud Taleghani and the Fadayeen-e Islam group. A one-time member of the largely anti-clerical People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), Rajai soon came out against its left-leaning ideals[5] and in 1960, joined the Freedom Movement of Iran.[6] He was arrested at least twice by SAVAK for his opposition activities, with his longest detention lasting from May 1974 to late 1978. In a 1980 speech to the United Nations Security Council, Rajai displayed his beaten right foot to the audience, attributing its condition to being tortured by the Shah's interrogators in prison.Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Rajai left the Freedom Movement and was appointed the minister of education in an Interim Government led by Mehdi Bazargan. Using his newfound power, Rajai sought the rapid Islamization of Iranian schools by banning the teaching of English, removing courses thought to be ''non-Islamic,'' closing universities to prevent potential student dissent, and firing teachers with whom he disagreed.
Although Bazargan's cabinet resigned on 6 November 1979 as a result of the Iran hostage crisis, Rajai remained in his post until 12 August 1980, when he was appointed prime minister by newly-elected president Abolhassan Banisadr, who was under pressure from the dominant Islamic Republican Party. Rajai set up his cabinet by selecting Karim Khodapanahi as foreign affairs minister, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani as interior minister, and Javad Fakoori as defense minister. Just a month into Rajai's premiership on 22 September 1980, the Iran–Iraq War began.
Banisadr was impeached on 21 June 1981 by the Iranian Parliament, allegedly because of his moves against the clerics in power. Ruhollah Khomeini, acting as Supreme Leader, held a Provisional Presidential Council of six people headed by Mohammad Beheshti and later Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili. Rajai, a member of the Council, nominated himself for the presidential election in 1981, running as a member of the Islamic Republican Party. By winning 91% of the votes, Rajai officially became the president after taking the Oath of Office on 2 August 1981.[7] In one of his first acts in office, he named Mohammad-Javad Bahonar to become the next prime minister of Iran.
See main article: 1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing. On 30 August 1981, Rajai held a meeting of Iran's Supreme Defence Council along with Bahonar. Witnesses later stated that a trusted aide brought a briefcase into the conference room, set it between the two leaders, and then left. A short period later, another person opened the case, triggering a hidden bomb that set the room ablaze, leading to the deaths of Rajai, Bahonar, and six other officials.[8] The attack occurred two months after the Haft-e Tir bombing. Iranian officials identified MEK operative Massoud Keshmiri as the culprit, though others allege the bombing was by political rivals within Rajai's political party.[9] [10] He is buried in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.
Rajai's political programs were based on a form of constitutional law that included a position of privilege for Islam. He insisted that those in control of the state must be Muslim, emphasized the Velayat-e Faqih, and believed it essential that the government cooperate with institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Revolutionary Court. He respected people's freedom insofar as it did not contravene Islamic law and tried during his tenure to create a consistent government.[11]