Ebrahim Asgharzadeh is an Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian political activist and politician. He served as a member of the 3rd Majlis

Majlis

' , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting", used in the context of "council", to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries...

 (Iran's legislature) from 1989–1993 and as a member of the first City Council of Tehran

City Council of Tehran

The City Council of Tehran is the elected council that presides over the city of Tehran, elects the Mayor of Tehran, and budgets of the Municipality of Tehran.The council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms...

 from 1999–2003. His career in politics started as one the leaders of the group Muslim student followers of the Imam's line

Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line

Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line , also translated as Muslim Students of the Imam Khomeini Line, was an Iranian student group that occupied the U.S. embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979...

 that took over the American embassy

Iran hostage crisis

The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...

 and held American embassy staff hostage for 444 days. He is now the leader of the Hambastegi (Unity or Solidarity) political party.

Overview

Asgharzadeh was a 24-year-old electrical engineering student at a Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University of Technology is a university of higher education in technology, engineering and physical sciences in Tehran. Sharif University of Technology is one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and is considered Iran's MIT...

 in Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 at the time of the Islamic revolution. He was the leader of the newly formed Office for Strengthening Unity

Office for Strengthening Unity

The Office for Strengthening Unity , is an Iranian student organization created in 1979, and has been described as "the country's most well-known student organization," and "Iran's leading prodemocracy student group"...

, a group founded by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti

Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti

Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti , was an Iranian scholar, writer, jurist and one of the main architects of the constitution of the Islamic Republic in Iran. He was the secretary-general of the Islamic Republic Party, and the head of Iran's judicial system...

 to counter the influence among university students of the anti-theocratic Mojahedin-e Khalq

People's Mujahedin of Iran

The People's Mujahedin of Iran is a terrorist militant organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran....

.

Asgharzadeh became well-known as a leader of the embassy takeover. From 1982 to 1988, Asgharzadeh worked closely with future president Muhammad Khatami, who was then head of the official Kayhan

Kayhan

Kayhan is an influential newspaper in Iran. Directly under the supervision of the Office of the Supreme Leader, it is regarded to be "the most conservative Iranian newspaper."...

 newspaper and later became the minister of culture and Islamic guidance. Asgharzadeh also served as a military commander in the war with Iraq for six months.

After 1988 Asgharzadeh began calling for more openness and "voicing his opposition to the clerics' policies." In 1988 Asgharzadeh was elected to Parliament

Majlis of Iran

The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...

 representing a district in Tehran. By 1992 his "outspokenness" provoked the conservative Guardian Council into disqualifying him for running for most elected posts and sentencing him to a month in solitary confinement. After being released from prison he abandoned his career as an engineer and returned to school, studying political science at Tehran University, where, as of 2002, he was working on a doctorate. In 1996 he helped set up the Iranian reform movement that led to the election of Khatami a year later, and ran for municipal council (the only post where elections are not screened by the Guardian Council).

In 1998 Asgharzadeh was preaching the importance of city/village council elections that would built democracy in Iran from the ground up. He was beaten up in the city of Hamadan

Hamadan

-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....

 by men

Hezbollah of Iran

The Hezbollah, or Party of God, is an Iranian movement formed at the time of the Iranian Revolution to assist the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his forces in consolidating power...

 with iron bars, his glasses broken and suit torn, when he tried to give a lecture there.

In early 2001 he was a city council member in Tehran, speaking out against the news blackout of his candicacy imposed by reformist papers, and the polarization of presidential elections. He was attempted to run as a reformist presidential candidate in the 2001 election against then-incumbent President Mohammad Khatami

Mohammad Khatami

Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...

, though aware of the "high possibility" he would be disqualified by the electoral supervisory body of the Guardian Council

Guardian Council

The Guardian Council of the Constitution , also known as the Guardian Council or Council of Guardians, is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran....

.

He was later arrested for publishing the reformist Salam newspaper which was critical of the government.

In his politics and journalism Asgharzadeh has strongly urged the Supreme Leader

Supreme leader

A supreme leader typically refers to a figure in the highest leadership position of an entity, group, organization, or state, who exercises strong or all-powerful authority over it. In religion, the supreme leader or supreme leaders is God or Gods...

 and other powerful clerics to adopt democratic reforms, such as freedom of the press

Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

 and the elimination of veto powers they wield over political candidates and legislation. He is said to represent an Islamist faction "more rooted in the leftwing and egalitarian ethos of the revolution" than theocracy.

In foreign policy, Asgharzadeh has been described as an advocate of "improved relations with the United States", who questioned President Khatami's handling of "an opportunity to mend relations with the United States" when he (Khatami) failed to follow up on a March 2000 acknowledgement by American Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright of "American errors in its dealings with Iran, including Washington's support for a coup in 1953." On the other hand, according to Mahan Abedin, he is "probably the most determined and effective anti-American ideologue in the contemporary world," and an even "more determined opponent of American hegemony" than he was as a hostage-taker of Americans in 1979.

Sources and references