Mohammad Momen; The End of a Trusted Ambassador

Mohammad Daneshzadeh Qomi, known as Mohammad Momen, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 81, was one of the most mysterious and influential behind-the-scenes players in Iranian politics. He had come close to death twice, once in 1995 due to a severe accident that left him bedridden for two months, and again in 2011 due to a heart condition. However, his life ultimately ended with brain death. Mohsen Kadivar described Mohammad Momen as the 'jurisprudential identity of the regime,' a significant and deep-rooted expression. The history of this description can be traced back to Momen's extensive efforts and high credibility among the religious authorities, the seminary, and the jurisprudential institutions of the regime. He was a trusted figure for four important personalities: Ruhollah Khomeini, Hossein Ali Montazeri, Ali Meshkini, and Ali Khamenei. Momen's relationship with Khomeini dates back to before the revolution. He was both a student of Ruhollah Khomeini and attended Mustafa Khomeini's classes, during which a significant event in his career was recorded. In 1970, 13 members of the Society of Teachers had signed that Khomeini was a source of emulation. Their action was political; they wanted to declare Khomeini as a source of emulation so that the Pahlavi regime could not imprison or execute him. Momen, who had gone to Iraq, informed Khomeini about the matter, acting as an ambassador. Years later, in November 1994, Momen became an ambassador again, this time carrying a letter from Ayatollah Montazeri that denied Khamenei's authority; 'Mr. Momen said that since this matter aligns with my own belief, I will take it.' Momen played the role of an intermediary and ambassador in many other instances, including in 2011 when Vahid Khorasani called the Islamic Republic a 'corrupt apparatus' and its rulers greedy for wealth and power. The Society of Teachers of Qom sent Momen to persuade him to soften his stance. Momen also acted as an ambassador during the conflicts between Hossein Ali Montazeri and Ahmad Azari Qomi with Ali Khamenei. Ahmad Azari Qomi recounts that Momen's mediation to retrieve his belongings from security institutions was ineffective, and Mohsen Kadivar quoted Momen as saying: '[In Fall 1998] I requested from him [Khamenei] if he would allow the house arrest of Ayatollah Azari [Qomi] to be lifted so that he could be taken to the hospital for urgent treatment, otherwise, there is a risk to his life. The leader [Khamenei] responded to my request by saying: To hell with it.' Momen did not vote for Khamenei's leadership during the session on June 4, 1989, when the Assembly of Experts gathered to determine Khomeini's successor, as is evident from the video of the session. However, a few months after Khamenei became the leader, when the 'Leadership Jurisprudence Council' was formed, Momen was one of the nine invited to the sessions of this council and was one of its most active members. The formation of this council was proposed by the jurists residing in Qom, and Momen became their ambassador to approach the leader. The leader accepted and told Momen to be present in this council. The meetings were scheduled for 'Thursday' every week. The method of the council was simple. According to Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Mohammad Momen, one of the members of the meeting would choose a topic for 'research, jurisprudence, and inference,' and they would discuss and review it for hours. If the 'conducted research' was convincing for the leader, he would announce his opinion based on it. Momen stated that these sessions were for 'scientific assessment' and for others to become acquainted with the scientific rank and jurisprudential ability of the leader, but Mohsen Kadivar believes the main goal of these sessions was 'retraining and preparing' Ayatollah Khamenei; 'in-service training.' A few months after these sessions, in September 1990, Momen was among the seven scholars residing in Qom who formally approved Khamenei's jurisprudence for holding the leadership of the Islamic Republic. However, in December 1994, when the Society of Teachers wanted to introduce Khamenei as a 'source of emulation,' Momen was among the opponents and supported the emulation of Hossein Ali Montazeri. Momen's opposition led to slogans being chanted against him at a gathering of Khamenei's supporters in front of Montazeri's house. This gathering and threat marked a turning point and had its effects. Momen, who seemed to have been frightened, did not follow Montazeri and not only did he not protest Khamenei's emulation anymore, but he also became one of the defenders and promoters of the leader. Of course, the leader did not hold back in praising him. In June 2009, when representatives of the presidential candidates visited Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic described Momen by saying: 'If in this system one cannot trust people like Ayatollah Momen and Jannati, one cannot trust anyone else either.' Atollah Mohajerani, in 2013, when Abdolkarim Soroush wrote that Mohammad Momen, like some other jurists, considers it permissible to slander opponents, including accusing them of sodomy or adultery, rejected this accusation and described Mohammad Momen as a 'free and meticulous jurist' who has tried 'not to impose his political taste on his jurisprudential opinion.' Momen's political life in the last two decades and his absolute defense of Khamenei's political aspects and the supervisory role of Ahmad Jannati and the elimination of figures from the opposing faction, such as Mohammad Ali Dashtgheib or Hassan Khomeini, however, showed that Mohajerani's judgment about Momen 'later' is not entirely fair. Momen advanced towards the leader and his faction to such an extent that he denied all his past, including not voting for Khamenei's leadership and opposing his emulation, claiming that he had actually suggested to Khamenei to become the leader and even falsely stated that the voting for selecting Khamenei as the leader was not done by 'standing and sitting' but was secret. He also praised the leader, saying Khamenei was a blessing and a gift from God for us and the people, and a source of emulation like him is rarely found. Momen, who once mediated so that scholars like Azari Qomi and Montazeri could have a quieter political and personal life amid the struggles with the Wali Faqih, stood at the forefront of eliminating Mohammad Ali Dashtgheib from the Assembly of Experts two decades later. Dashtgheib was opposing Khamenei, and Momen was no longer an ambassador and intermediary; he stood with the leader's faction, calling Dashtgheib a 'bad person' and saying that if he wanted to become a member of the Assembly again, they would stand against him. Another prominent political role of Mohammad Momen was related to the 'Guardian Council of the Constitution.' Before joining the Guardian Council, he was a member of the 'Supreme Judicial Council' and was responsible for overseeing the high courts and 'appointing judges.' He held these positions with the support of Montazeri and the trust of Ali Meshkini. In July 1983, upon the end of these responsibilities, he was appointed a member of the Guardian Council by Ruhollah Khomeini, a position he held until his death. Mohammad Momen was an examiner in the Guardian Council and a corrector of written exams. He, who was the highest supervisor of the exams for candidates entering the Assembly of Experts, wrote the exam questions, and his son, Ali Momen, assisted him in conducting the exams. Additionally, his religious influence and credibility among the scholars of Qom meant that whenever there was a doubt about disqualifying candidates for various assemblies and the spokesperson of the Guardian Council or Jannati could not explain or justify, Mohammad Momen would come to their aid to ensure that the 'internal opponents' of the Guardian Council were silenced and accepted, including in the case of the widespread disqualifications of the sixth parliament when 10 or 12 ministers from Khatami's government went for negotiations; it was Mohammad Momen who represented the Guardian Council and discussed with them, delivering the negative opinion. Or in the case of the disqualification of Hassan Khomeini for the Assembly of Experts, he was the one who interviewed the media to wrap up the discussion. At the same time, due to his membership in the 'Society of Teachers of Qom,' he had political and electoral inclinations, including his support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which also caused controversy. Another important institution he was a member of until his death was the 'Assembly of Experts.' In this assembly, like Hassan Rouhani - who was once a student of Mohammad Momen - he was elected to represent the people of Semnan and was a significant and influential figure. Once in 2014, he ran for the presidency of the Assembly of Experts but did not receive votes, yet he was frequently present in the board as the first or second vice president or secretary. Momen's death does not create a significant void in the public sphere, but at higher levels, one of the most influential trusted figures of Ayatollah Khamenei, who could always play an effective card, has been lost. This is not a small loss.