End of Ahmad Jannati's 25-Year Tenure as Friday Prayer Leader in Tehran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, agreed on Sunday, March 10, to Ahmad Jannati's resignation from the position of Friday Prayer Leader in Tehran. Ahmad Jannati, born in March 1926, served as the temporary Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran for 25 years, during which he delivered controversial and harsh sermons against political figures and movements that opposed his views. He is one of the closest figures to Ayatollah Khamenei within the Islamic Republic system. Mr. Jannati has been a member of the Guardian Council since 1980 and became its secretary in 1992. He currently also holds the presidency of the Assembly of Experts. This conservative cleric is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Islamic Republic, a proponent of vetting candidates, and has disqualified many reformist and independent candidates during his tenure in the Guardian Council. While serving as the secretary of the Guardian Council, he supported candidates from his ideological spectrum, which became particularly problematic during the 2009 presidential election. In this election, several members of the Guardian Council openly supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ayatollah Mohammad Momen, Mohammad Yazdi, Ayatollah Kabi, Gholamhossein Elham, and Ebrahim Azizi publicly backed Ahmadinejad, with Elham and Azizi even participating in his campaign rallies. However, Ahmad Jannati was among those who insisted on supporting Ahmadinejad while claiming the Guardian Council's neutrality. The secretary of the Guardian Council stated on March 25, 2009, about three months before the election: 'The enemies of Islamic Iran, who are thinking of a soft overthrow, are seeking to bring a president to power who is closer to themselves and their goals... In the past three years, there has been extraordinary attention to the people, especially the underprivileged, which is the result of the efforts of a hardworking and diligent government (the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).' Following the protests against the 2009 election results, Ahmad Jannati was one of the figures who took the harshest stances against Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the two protesting candidates; he labeled the protesters as 'corrupt on earth' during his Friday prayers. In February 2010, the temporary Friday Prayer Leader was one of the first to call for the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. In response to Ahmad Jannati's accusations regarding the reformists receiving billions from the Saudi king, Mir Hossein Mousavi stated: 'Lying is a form of oppression that is always wrong... especially if this lie comes from the mouth of the secretary of the Guardian Council and the Friday Prayer Leader of the capital. Someone who should be a guardian of the people's votes and a protector of the principles of the constitution and the national covenant. Is there a clearer evidence than this man's recent big lie for election fraud? Especially considering that this is not his first falsehood.' In May 2006, Ahmad Jannati even described Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to George Bush as a result of 'inspiration' and called for it to be included in 'textbooks.' In one of Ahmad Jannati's latest actions as secretary of the Guardian Council, he announced based on the 'Nafi Sabil' rule that non-Muslims cannot be present in city councils. This announcement led to the suspension of Spenta Niknam, a Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council. Before officially agreeing to Ahmad Jannati's resignation from the Friday Prayer leadership, the leader of the Islamic Republic appointed Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard as the temporary Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran on February 13, 2018.