Info:
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati is an Iranian Shi’i cleric and a conservative politician. He was born in Ladan, Isfahan. Jannati is known for his opposition to secularism and anti-LGBT rhetoric. He is also a founding member of the Haghani school of thought.
OFAC designated Ahmad Jannati, the longtime Secretary of Iran’s Guardian Council, who was originally appointed to the Council by the Supreme Leader in February 1980 and reappointed to a six-year term in 2016. As Secretary of the Guardian Council, and a member of the Elections Supervision Committee for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Jannati oversaw the disqualification of nearly half of potential parliamentary candidates, including several incumbent legislators;
In addition to chairing the Guardian Council, Jannati is the chair of the Assembly of Experts, an entity responsible for choosing the next Supreme Leader. Jannati was also appointed by the Supreme Leader to the Expediency Council, which is an advisory body for the Supreme Leader with an ultimate adjudicating power in disputes over legislation between the parliament and the Guardian Council;
Today, Jannati occupies two prominent posts in Iranian politics as chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body charged with choosing the Supreme Leader, and as chairman of the Guardian Council, the body in charge of checking legislation approved by Majlis with the Constitution and sharia, and approving the candidates in various elections;
Jannati has been a member of the Guardian Council since 1980 and has been its chair since 1988;
During a Friday Prayer on 4 August 2006, Jannati asserted that “support for Hezbollah” was “a duty.” Regarding Iraq, around the time its draft constitution was presented to parliament in 2005, he said: “Fortunately, after years of effort and expectations in Iraq, an Islamic state has come to power and the constitution has been established on the basis of Islamic precepts”;
In a Friday prayer sermon on 29 January 2010 in Tehran, Jannati “praised Iranian judicial authorities for executing two political dissidents” the day before and “urged officials to continue executing dissidents until opposition protests come to an end.”;
Jannati sees leniency with the dissidents as un-Islamic.
“God ordered the prophet Muhammad to brutally slay hypocrites and ill-intentioned people who stuck to their convictions. Koran insistently orders such deaths. May God not forgive anyone showing leniency toward the corrupt on Earth.”;
Responding to clerics such Jannati wanting to speed up executions, Iran’s judiciary chief firmly stated his opposition, commenting that it was against the Sharia and Iranian law:
“Political assumptions should not influence judicial investigations because we won’t have a response before God should an innocent person be punished due to hasty action.”
In a 1 June 2007 speech aired on Iranian TV Channel 1 (as translated by MEMRI), Jannati stated:
– People are increasingly inclined towards the Koran, towards Islam, towards the Islamic Revolution and the Imam [Khomeini]. Just like this movement destroyed the monarchical regime here, it will definitely destroy the arrogant rule of hegemony of America, Israel, and their allies… At the end of the day, we are an anti-American regime. America is our enemy, and we are the enemies of America. The hostility between us is not a personal matter. It is a matter of principle. We are in disagreement over the very principles that underlie our revolution and our Islam;
In April 2008, he stated, “You cried: `Death to the Shah,` and indeed, he died. You cried: `Death to Israel,` and it is now on its deathbed. You cry: `Death to America,` and before long, Allah willing, the prayer for the dead will be recited over it.”;
On 17 September 2010, Jannati “described the recent desecration of the holy Quran in the United States [as] an insane behavior,” apparently referring to the 2010 Qur’an-burning controversy. In the same Friday Prayer, he reportedly claimed that “opinion polls reveal[ed] that 84 percent of the Americans consider the US administration responsible for 9/11 attacks.” The Ayatollah’s comments about Americans’ opinions about 9/11 were cited by analysts after President Ahmadinejad made similar comments, amongst others, the next week at the United Nations. The president’s speech sparked at least 33 delegations to walk out from the General Assembly, and ensuing criticism;
In a sermon in Tehran, which was broadcast on Iran’s Channel 1 on 21 February 2014 (as translated by MEMRI), Jannati told a crowd that “If we, the people, are against America, you [Iranian leaders] must oppose it too” and that “Death to America” was “the first option on our table…This is the slogan of our entire people without exception. This is our number one slogan.”;
On hijab
Jannati takes a strong stand in favor of compulsory Hijab, or covering for women. In June 2010, he spoke out against Iranian President Ahmadinejad for his alleged laxness on compulsory hijab in Iran. After Ahmadinejad proposed a “cultural campaign” to combat loose hijab rather than a police crackdown, Jannati responded, “Drug traffickers are hanged, terrorists are executed and robbers are punished for their crimes, but when it comes to the law of God, which is above human rights,” some individuals “stay put and speak about cultural programs.”;
As Secretary and a member of the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati is one of the main people responsible for preventing free elections in Iran. The Guardian Council violated one of the most basic rights of all Iranian citizens to run as a candidate in an election since 1991,when they used Article 99 of the Constitution to veto candidates who are religious minorities, opposers of the Islamic Republic, and women;
Involved In:
Human Rights Abuses
Born:
22 Feb 1927
Country:
Iran
Address:
Tehran, Iran
Nationality:
Iranian