Alireza Panahian

Who is Alireza Panahian?

Alireza Panahian is an influential Iranian Shiite cleric and official. He is a Hojatoleslam and head of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's "think tank for universities." In February 2011 he was among some "70 high-ranking" officials of the Islamic Republic who established an "`Ammar` organization" or "Ammar Headquarters" calling for the "trial and execution" of former presidential candidates and Iranian Green Movement protest leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Raja News has listed him as one of 40-odd "students, confidants and political companions" close to conservative leader Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.

Panahian also addressed the 2010 "Islamic Unity Seminar" in Lahore, Pakistan on the subjects of the Prophet Muhammad's "character and Islamic Unity."