The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, has heaped praise on deceased senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani, who headed Iran’s Assembly of Experts for three years.
“This great and pious man appeared always and everywhere in the position of a religious scholar and an honest politician and a candid revolutionary,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a message of condolences following Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani’s demise on Tuesday.
The Supreme Leader said Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani was an influential figure in the Islamic Republic and a true companion of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, according to Press TV.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani played his role “bravely” during the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and spared no efforts in defending the revolution and the Islamic establishment.
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also offered his condolences on the demise of Mahdavi-Kani and declared two days of national mourning on the sad occasion.
In his message, the president said the Islamic establishment has witnessed the influential and brave role of Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani at sensitive junctures.
Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani, 83, passed away in Tehran on Tuesday after he fell into a coma on June 4 due to a major heart attack.
The 83-year-old veteran politician was elected chairman of the Assembly of Experts in March 2011. The high-ranking body of experts elects and oversees the activities of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The senior Iranian official was also a founder and the leader of the Combatant Clergy Association, a prominent religious, cultural and political foundation formed with the objective of protecting the achievements of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
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