Ali Dashti

Ali Dashti (Persian: علی دشتی‎‎, pronounced [æˈliː dæʃˈtiː]; 31 March 1897 – January 16, 1982) was an Iranian rationalist of the twentieth century. Dashti was also an Iranian senator.

Born into a Persian family in Dashti in Bushehr Province, Iran on 31 March 1897. Ali Dashti received a traditional religious education. He studied Islamic theology, history, Arabic and Persian grammar, and classical literature in madrasas in Karbala and Najaf (both in Iraq). He returned to Iran in 1918 and lived in Shiraz, Isfahan, and finally in Tehran, where he became involved in politics of the day.

Rather than becoming a cleric, he became a journalist and published a newspaper (Shafaq-e Sorkh) in Tehran from 1922 to 1935. He was a member of Majlis at various times between 1928 and 1946.

His criticism of allowing the Tudeh party into the cabinet and concessions to the Soviets landed him in prison in 1946. He was appointed a Senator in 1954 until the Islamic revolution in 1979.

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