Mohammad Ali Rajai (محمد علی رجائی in Persian) (15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was the second elected President of Iran, after serving as Prime Minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs for five months, 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981, while he was Prime Minister.
He graduated with a degree in Education from Tarbiat Moallem University in 1959. [1]
He was actively involved in Iranian revolution and was a leader in the movement to purge Iranian universities of American and European influences, which was later called the Cultural Revolution. Furthermore, he started the Iranian retirement program for individuals over the age of 70.
Rajai (right) visiting
Ali Khamenei in hospital after unsuccessful assassination attempt by
MKO on 27 June 1981
[edit] Assassination
On August 30, 1981, President Rajai held a meeting of Iran's Supreme Defense Council, along with the Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar. Witnesses later stated that a trusted aide brought a briefcase into the conference room, setting it between the two leaders, then left. Another person opened the case, triggering a bomb that set the room ablaze and killed Rajai, Bahonar, and three others.[1] The assassin was identified as Massoud Kashmiri, an operative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (also known as the MKO, MEK and PMOI), who had infiltrated the Prime Minister's office in the guise of a state security official[citation needed].
He was the President of Iran for 15 days[citation needed]. Rajai was born in Qazvin.
[edit] References
- ^ Facts on File Yearbook 1981
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