Mohammad Beheshti

Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti (; 24 October 1928 – 28 June 1981) was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the Revolution. Beheshti is considered to have been the primary architect of Iran's post-revolution constitution, as well as the administrative structure of the Islamic republic. Beheshti is also known to have selected and trained several prominent politicians in the Islamic Republic, such as former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Ali Fallahian, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Beheshti also served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Republic Party, and was the head of the Iranian judicial system. He further served as Chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution, and the Assembly of Experts. Beheshti earned a PhD in philosophy, and was fluent in English, German and Arabic. On 28 June 1981, Beheshti was assassinated in the Hafte tir bombing by the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), along with more than 70 members of the Islamic Republic Party, including four cabinet ministers and 23 members of parliament. The Iranian government blamed Mohammad Reza Kolahi as the MEK operative involved in the incident. Following his death, Ayatollah Khomeini referred to Beheshti as a person who was "as a nation for us." Early years and education Beheshti was born in Isfahan in 1928. He studied both at the University of Tehran and under Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei in Qom. Between 1965 and 1970, he led the Islamic Center in Hamburg where he was responsible for the spiritual leadership of religious Iranian students in Germany and western Europe. In Hamburg, he also worked with Mohammad Khatami and was among his influences. From the early 1960s he was involved in activities against the monarchy and was arrested several times by the Shah's secret police, the SAVAK. Beheshti joined Ayatollah Khomeini in Najaf, Iraq, where the latter was in exile. There he became part of Khomeini's underground movement.