Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour
| Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur | |
|---|---|
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| Minister of the Interior of Iran | |
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In office 19 August 1985 – 3 August 1989 |
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| President | Ali Khamenei |
| Prime Minister | Mir-Hossein Mousavi |
| Preceded by | Nategh-Nouri |
| Succeeded by | Abdollah Nouri |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1947 (age 69–70) Tehran, Iran |
| Political party | Association of Combatant Clerics |
| Religion | Shia Islam |
Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur or Mohtashami (Persian: علیاکبر محتشمی) (born 1947) is a Shia cleric who was active in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and later became interior minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is "seen as a founder of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon" and one of the "radical ... elements, advocating the export of the revolution," in the Iranian clerical hierarchy.
In an assassination attempt targeting Mohtashami, he lost his right hand when he was opening a book loaded with explosives.
Mohtashemi studied in the holy city of Najaf Iraq, where he spent considerable time with his mentor the Ayatollah Khomeini. He also accompanied Khomeini in the exile period in both Iraq and France. He cofounded an armed group in the 1970s with Mohammad Montazeri, son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, in Lebanon and Syria, aiming at assisting liberation movements in Muslim countries.
Following the revolution he served as Iran's ambassador to Syria from 1982 to 1986. He later became Iran's minister of interior. While ambassador to Syria, he is thought to have played a "pivotal role" in the creation of the Lebanese radical Shia organization Hezbollah, working "within the framework of the Department for Islamic Liberation Movements run by the Iranian Pasdaran." Mohtashami "actively supervised" Hezbollah's creation, merging into it existing radical Shi'ite movements: the Lebanese al-Dawa; the Association of Muslim Students; Al Amal al Islamiyya. In 1986 his "close supervision" of Hezbollah was cut short when the Office of Islamic Liberation was reassigned to Iran's ministry of foreign affairs. He is also described as making "liberal" use of the diplomatic pouch as Ambassador, bringing in "crates" of material from Iran. He was remained among radical hard line parties even when he choose as the minister in the government of Musavi.
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