Saeed Hajjarian
Encyclopedia
Saeed Hajjarian is an Iran
ian intellectual, prominent journalist, pro-democracy activist and university lecturer. He has been an intelligence official, a member of Tehran
's city council
, and advisor to president Mohammad Khatami
. In March, 2000, he was shot in the head by an assailant and severely disabled, an act many believe was in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of Iran
and his significant help to the Iranian reform movement in general.
ian revolutionary during the 1979 Iranian Revolution
and was among the students who took over the US embassy in Tehran
in 1979. After the revolution, he got involved with the formation of the intelligence apparatus of the newly founded Islamic Republic
. Through the 1980s, he was working in the Ministry of Intelligence, where his positions included Vice Minister of Political Affairs. In the late 1980s, he left the ministry, and established an Institute for Strategic Studies under the presidency
. That was where he played an important role in creating a new discourse based on democracy and rule of law for his generation of revolutionaries.
In 1977 Hajjarian was enrolled in Mechanical Engineering
undergraduate program but then he shifted to political sciences and received his doctoral qualification from Tehran University in 2003.
was elected President in 1997, he appointed Hajjarian his political advisor. In 1999, Hajjarian was elected to the city council
of Tehran in Iran's first city elections after the 1979 revolution. He was also the editor of Sobh-e Emrooz newspaper, which was a strong advocate of Khatami's reforms. He was believed to be the source of information for many reports written the investigative journalists Akbar Ganji
and Emadeddin Baghi
, including those about the "Chain murders
" of dissident intellectuals by members of Iran's intelligence ministry
In March, 2000 he was shot in the face by a gunman on the doorstep of Tehran
's city council. The would be assassin fled on a motor-cycle with an accomplice. The bullet entered through his left cheek and lodged in his neck. Miraculously, he was not killed, but was badly paralyzed for life.
During his coma, groups of young Iranians kept a vigil outside Sina hospital, where he was being treated.
His assailant Saeed Asgar, a young man who was reported to be a member of the Basij
militia, was later arrested and sentenced to spend 15 years in jail. But he was released after spending only a short term in prison. Saeed Asgar was accompanied by Mohsen Morteza Majidi on a motor bike. Others who have been involved, include Mohammad Ali Moghaddami, Mehdi Rowghani, Mousa Jan Nesari, Ali Pourchaluei (possibly the one who shot Hajjarian), Saeed Golounani and Safar Maghsoudi.
" in his Sobh Emrouz daily newspaper, and the "key role" he is believed to have played "in bringing about ... damaging disclosures," both as the editor of the exposing newspaper and one of the few reformists likely to be a source of information about activity in the intelligence ministry. Consequently, "some believe that remnants" of the chain murder "intelligence killer group may have been" behind his attempted assassination.
Sa’eed Hajjarian finds a way of combating the predominance of Valiyat al-faqih (rule of the Islamic jurist) by underlining the de facto secularization of religion by the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Khomeini. He allegedly showed the supremacy of politics as such over any religious norm when he said that the interests of the Islamic Republic are paramount in Islam and that zakat
, salah, hajj
, and everything else in Islam, are subordinant. This kind of decision, he states, means that politics are more important than religion and that this acknowledges the secularization of religion. In this context, he argues, it is possible to reassess velayat faqih and to reject its supremacy within the political field in Iran.
, it was reported that Hajjarian had been arrested.
It has been reported that he died in Evin prison under torture on July 7, but also that he was still alive but had suffered a nervous breakdown on July 8 and was in critical condition in a military hospital in Tehran. More recently, there have been reports that he is still in Evin Prison, possibly in a clinic there, and that according to his wife, physician Vajiheh Marsoussi, his medical condition was "deteriorating severely" while in prison. Saeed Hajjarian has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service on 25 August 2009.
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 intellectual, prominent journalist, pro-democracy activist and university lecturer. He has been an intelligence official, a member of 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...
's city council
City and Village Councils of Iran
City and Village Councils are local councils which are elected by public vote in all cities and villages throughout Iran....
, and advisor to 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...
. In March, 2000, he was shot in the head by an assailant and severely disabled, an act many believe was in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of Iran
Chain murders of Iran
The Chain Murders of Iran , or Serial Murders, were a series of murders and disappearances from 1988-1998 by Iranian government operatives of Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way.The victims included more than 80 writers, translators,...
and his significant help to the Iranian reform movement in general.
Early life and education
Saeed Hajjarian studied Mechanical Engineering at Faculty of Engineering (Fanni)Tehran University and was a young IranIran
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 revolutionary during the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
and was among the students who took over the US embassy in Tehran
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...
in 1979. After the revolution, he got involved with the formation of the intelligence apparatus of the newly founded Islamic Republic
Islamic republic
Islamic republic is the name given to several states in the Muslim world including the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mauritania. Pakistan adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958. Iran adopted it after the 1979 Iranian...
. Through the 1980s, he was working in the Ministry of Intelligence, where his positions included Vice Minister of Political Affairs. In the late 1980s, he left the ministry, and established an Institute for Strategic Studies under the presidency
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
. That was where he played an important role in creating a new discourse based on democracy and rule of law for his generation of revolutionaries.
In 1977 Hajjarian was enrolled in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
undergraduate program but then he shifted to political sciences and received his doctoral qualification from Tehran University in 2003.
Assassination attempt
When Mohammad KhatamiMohammad 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...
was elected President in 1997, he appointed Hajjarian his political advisor. In 1999, Hajjarian was elected to the city council
City and Village Councils of Iran
City and Village Councils are local councils which are elected by public vote in all cities and villages throughout Iran....
of Tehran in Iran's first city elections after the 1979 revolution. He was also the editor of Sobh-e Emrooz newspaper, which was a strong advocate of Khatami's reforms. He was believed to be the source of information for many reports written the investigative journalists Akbar Ganji
Akbar Ganji
Akbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist and writer. He has been described as "Iran’s preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly popular pro-democracy journalist" who has crossed press censorship "red lines" regularly...
and Emadeddin Baghi
Emadeddin Baghi
Emadeddin Baghi is a prominent Iranian human rights activist, prisoners' rights advocate, investigative journalist, philosopher and writer. He is the founder and head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights and the Society of Right to Life Guardians in Iran, and the author of twenty...
, including those about the "Chain murders
Chain murders of Iran
The Chain Murders of Iran , or Serial Murders, were a series of murders and disappearances from 1988-1998 by Iranian government operatives of Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way.The victims included more than 80 writers, translators,...
" of dissident intellectuals by members of Iran's intelligence ministry
In March, 2000 he was shot in the face by a gunman on the doorstep of 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...
's city council. The would be assassin fled on a motor-cycle with an accomplice. The bullet entered through his left cheek and lodged in his neck. Miraculously, he was not killed, but was badly paralyzed for life.
During his coma, groups of young Iranians kept a vigil outside Sina hospital, where he was being treated.
His assailant Saeed Asgar, a young man who was reported to be a member of the Basij
Basij
The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer militia established in 1979 by order of the Islamic Revolution's leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The force consists of young Iranians who have volunteered, often in exchange for official benefits...
militia, was later arrested and sentenced to spend 15 years in jail. But he was released after spending only a short term in prison. Saeed Asgar was accompanied by Mohsen Morteza Majidi on a motor bike. Others who have been involved, include Mohammad Ali Moghaddami, Mehdi Rowghani, Mousa Jan Nesari, Ali Pourchaluei (possibly the one who shot Hajjarian), Saeed Golounani and Safar Maghsoudi.
Possible cause
His attempted assassination is thought to be associated with the exposure of the "Chain murdersChain murders of Iran
The Chain Murders of Iran , or Serial Murders, were a series of murders and disappearances from 1988-1998 by Iranian government operatives of Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system in some way.The victims included more than 80 writers, translators,...
" in his Sobh Emrouz daily newspaper, and the "key role" he is believed to have played "in bringing about ... damaging disclosures," both as the editor of the exposing newspaper and one of the few reformists likely to be a source of information about activity in the intelligence ministry. Consequently, "some believe that remnants" of the chain murder "intelligence killer group may have been" behind his attempted assassination.
Recovery
Hajjarian slowly recovered somewhat from the shooting. By 2005, Hajjarian was still unable to speak with a clear voice and still using the wheelchair, although could walk with help. By 2009 he still spoke with difficulty and was "dependent on the constant care of doctors and family."Research works and viewpoints
According to author Abbas Milani, Hajjarian argued that domination of politics by clerics was wrong, but could be gradually eroded by "mobilizing the masses and using them as bargaining chips with Iran's rulers." His strategy for the reform movement has been described by another journalist as extending the reformists "reach by triangulating between the mass movement they represented and the autocratic state with which they shared power. He coined the phrase that would define the reformists’ strategy: `Pressure from below, negotiation at the top.`”Sa’eed Hajjarian finds a way of combating the predominance of Valiyat al-faqih (rule of the Islamic jurist) by underlining the de facto secularization of religion by the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Khomeini. He allegedly showed the supremacy of politics as such over any religious norm when he said that the interests of the Islamic Republic are paramount in Islam and that zakat
Zakat
Zakāt , one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth to charity, generally to the poor and needy.-History:Zakat, a practice initiated by Muhammed himself, has played an important role throughout Islamic history...
, salah, hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, and everything else in Islam, are subordinant. This kind of decision, he states, means that politics are more important than religion and that this acknowledges the secularization of religion. In this context, he argues, it is possible to reassess velayat faqih and to reject its supremacy within the political field in Iran.
2009 Disputed Elections
On 16 June 2009, four days after the disputed presidential electionIranian presidential election, 2009
Iran's tenth presidential election was held on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes counted, Ahmadinejad had won the election...
, it was reported that Hajjarian had been arrested.
It has been reported that he died in Evin prison under torture on July 7, but also that he was still alive but had suffered a nervous breakdown on July 8 and was in critical condition in a military hospital in Tehran. More recently, there have been reports that he is still in Evin Prison, possibly in a clinic there, and that according to his wife, physician Vajiheh Marsoussi, his medical condition was "deteriorating severely" while in prison. Saeed Hajjarian has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service on 25 August 2009.
Quotes
- "Reforms are dead, long live the reforms!"
- "The main supporters of fighting against the Islamic Republic have put aside their revolts and guns. They have taken guitars and talk about political action now."
- "The fall of ideologic government is absolutely necessary today."
See also
- Mohammad KhatamiMohammad KhatamiSayyid 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...
- Gholamhossein KarbaschiGholamhossein KarbaschiGholamhossein Karbaschi is an Iranian politician who was the Mayor of Tehran from 1989 until 1998. He is considered politically reformist and is a close ally of former president Mohammad Khatami...
- History of political Islam in Iran
- Human rights in Islamic Republic of IranHuman rights in Islamic Republic of IranThe state of human rights in Iran has been criticized both by Iranians and international human right activists, writers, and NGOs. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions.The...
- Iranian reform movement
- Akbar GanjiAkbar GanjiAkbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist and writer. He has been described as "Iran’s preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly popular pro-democracy journalist" who has crossed press censorship "red lines" regularly...
- Abbas Amir-EntezamAbbas Amir-EntezamAbbas Amir-Entezam was the spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister in the Interim Cabinet of Mehdi Bazargan in 1979. In 1981 he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of spying for the U.S., a charge critics suggest was a cover for retaliation against his early opposition to theocratic...
External links
A Recent (2005) interview with Hajjarian by Vaghaye Ettefaghieh- BBC News story on Hajjarian assassination attempt
- Associated Press story on Hajjarian assassination attempt
- BBC News Analysis: Who wanted Hajjarian dead?
- Al-Ahram Weekly story: Price of a reformist victory?
- Transcripts of Hajjarian Shooting Trial Assassination of Saeed Hajjarian was done by Nasser Pourchalouei, not Saeed Asgar who openly accepted the responsibility
- Show Trials against Dissidents in Iran: Destruction of a Hero