Ayatollah Muhammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani was a prominent figure in the public struggles against the Pahlavi regime. He held key positions after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, including acting Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Chairman of the Assembly of Experts.

Muhammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani was born on August 6, 1931, in the Kan village, near Tehran.⁠[1] His father, Haj Asadollah, was a farmer who also engaged in trade, and his mother was named Fatimah. He had four brothers and three sisters.⁠[2] He began his six years of primary education in 1938⁠[3] and completed it at the age of thirteen in Kan.⁠[4] He then turned to religious studies. In 1945, he started studying Islamic sciences at the Sepahsalar School (now Shahid Motahhari School) in Tehran. After only fifteen days, however, he left, finding the atmosphere unsuitable, and moved to the Lorzadeh School,⁠[5] where he continued his studies for the next three years. In 1948, Mahdavi Kani attended the Qom Seminary, initially studying at the Feyziyeh School and later at the Hojjatiyeh School. For thirteen years, he studied under the guidance of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroojerdi, Imam Khomeini (ra), and Allameh Tabatabaei.⁠[6] During Nowruz 1949, which coincided with the days of Fatimiyyah, he traveled to Ardistan (in Isfahan Province) to preach Islam. The local gendarmerie, influenced by the Bahais, ordered him and other people to cancel the Fatimiyyah ceremonies and speeches, but he refused. This led to his first arrest, after which he was returned to Qom.⁠[7]

In addition to his studies in Qom, Mahdavi Kani taught logic, principles of jurisprudence, Makasib (Book of Transactions), and Mulla Hadi Sabzevari’ s Sharh--e Manzoomah (A Treatise on Logic in Verse).⁠[8] His first political activity began at the age of eighteen when he supported the Fadaiyan-e Islam group. Although he was not a formal member, he attended some of their gatherings and read their publications.⁠[9] In 1959, he married the daughter of Ayatollah Sorkhehei. They had one son, Muhammad-Saeed, and two daughters, Mahdiyeh and Maryam.⁠[10]

In 1961, Mahdavi Kani reached the level of ijtihad. After thirteen years in Qom, he returned to Tehran at his father’ s insistence and began teaching at the Marvi Seminary.⁠[11] Following the suggestion of Ayatollah Sorkhehei and the invitation of the trustees of the newly built Jalili Mosque on Iranshahr Street in Tehran, Mahdavi Kani became the prayer leader of the mosque and began leading congregational prayers from Ramazan 1962.⁠[12] Following the June 5, 1963, uprising, the Jalili Mosque became a key center of political struggle against the Pahlavi regime. His activities there led to his arrest four times and being banned from making speeches.⁠[13] The last time, in 1975, he was arrested and sentenced to three years of exile in Bukan, but after two months, he was transferred to Tehran and the Joint Anti-Sabotage Committee, where he was tortured. In SAVAK documents, he was described as an extremist cleric opposed to the government and a strong supporter of Imam Khomeini (ra). He was later moved to Evin Prison and sentenced to four years, but was released after two years.⁠[14]

After his release from prison in 1977, Mahdavi Kani, together with several other clerics, issued statements announcing the formation of the “ Society of Militant Clergy of Tehran”.⁠[15] Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani was one of the founding members of the Council of the Islamic Revolution, formed in 1979 to facilitate the transfer of power from the Pahlavi regime to the Islamic Republic. He was also a member of the “ Committee for Welcoming Imam Khomeini (ra) ”.⁠[16]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he participated as an observer in the meetings of the interim government but, not being a formal member, had no voting rights.⁠[17] With the formation of the Islamic Revolution Committees, he was appointed by Imam Khomeini (ra) on March 2, 1979, as their head and supervisor, a position he held until August 8, 1982.⁠[18] In the interim government, he was advisor to the Minister of Interior and the Council of the Islamic Revolution’ s   representative in the Ministry of Justice.⁠[19] In early 1980, he was appointed by Imam Khomeini (ra) as a member of the Guardian Council. However, when Hojatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani resigned as Minister of Interior to run in the parliamentary elections, Mahdavi Kani first assumed the role of Acting Minister of Interior and was later appointed Minister, subsequently resigning from the Guardian Council. He continued serving as the Minister of Interior in the cabinets of the martyrs Rajaei and Bahonar.⁠[20]

During the disputes between the government, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the Judiciary with President Abolhassan Banisadr, a three-member committee was formed to investigate claims of violating the law. Imam Khomeini (ra) appointed Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani as his representative on this committee.⁠[21]

After the martyrdom of Rajaei and Bahonar in the bombing of the Prime Minister’ s office on August 30, 1981, he was introduced by the Provisional Presidential Council on September 1st as Prime Minister and received a vote of confidence from the Islamic Consultative Assembly on the next day.⁠[22] The most important task of Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani’ s government was to prepare the ground for the third presidential election and the formation of a new cabinet.⁠[23] He ran in the third presidential election, but in his campaign interviews, instead of presenting programs, he spoke about the importance of the presidency. One day before the election, he withdrew his candidacy and advised the people to vote for Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (ra).⁠[24] After Ayatollah Khamenei’ s election as president, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani submitted his resignation and that of the cabinet earlier than scheduled so the new president could form his own government.⁠[25] After that, he did not take any executive position.⁠[26]

In 1981, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani was a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and the Cultural Revolution Headquarters, as well as the supervisor of Imam’ s share in the expenditures of the Welfare Organization and a member of the National Welfare Council.⁠[27] His most important cultural achievement was the founding of Imam Sadiq (as) University. This university, aimed at combining Islamic research and modern studies, especially humanities, and bridging seminary and university education, was established in Tehran in 1982 under his presidency. He was also appointed by Imam Khomeini (ra) on September 17, 1984, to revive and manage the Marvi Seminary.⁠[28] In 1989, he became a member of the Assembly for Revising the Constitution, and in 1995, he resigned as Secretary-General of the Society of Militant Clergy of Tehran.⁠[29] He was elected as Tehran’ s representative in the mid-term election for the Assembly of Experts and, in March 2011, was chosen as its chairman.⁠[30]

Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani also served for a period as the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran.⁠[31] His last public speech was delivered on May 15, 2014, at a conference honoring the late Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, former Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, in Qom.

Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani was hospitalized for a stroke on the anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini (ra), which brought him to a coma on June 4, 2014. He passed away on Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at the age of 83. His funeral prayer was led by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and on October 23, his body was carried in a funeral procession at the University of Tehran and buried, according to his will, beside the grave of Ayatollah Mulla Ali Kani at the Shah-Abdol-Azim (as) shrine.⁠[32]

Among his published works are Noqtehha-ye Aghaz dar Akhlaq-e Amali (The Beginning Points in Practical Ethics), Osool va Mabani-ye Eqtesad-e Eslami dar Quran (The Basics and Principles of Islamic Economy in Holy Quran), Bist Goftar (Twenty Discourses), and Sharh-e Doa-ye Iftitah (Commentary on the Supplication of Iftitah). The book of his memoirs was published in 2006 by the Center for Islamic Revolution Documents.⁠[33]