Iran's Worst Clerics

AYATOLLAH MOHAMMAD-TAQI MESBAH-YAZDI

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Position: Member of the Assembly of Experts, the group tasked with selecting Iran’s supreme leader

Worldview: Nicknamed “professor crocodile” by reformists, Yazdi (not to be confused with fellow Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi of the Guardian Council) is the hard-liner’s hard-liner. “He speaks only in rhetoric,” says Abdo, who has interviewed him. “When you ask him questions, you don’t get answers, you get slogans.”

Yazdi has publicly supported the use of suicide bombing against the enemies of Islam and the use of death squads against political reformers. He is often described as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s spiritual mentor, though at times, even the incumbent president has been too moderate for him. When Ahmadinejad tried to change the law to allow women to attend soccer matches, he was publicly rebuked by Yazdi.

Possible election role: The current turmoil should be a test of Yazdi’s true loyalties. In recent years, there has been speculation that Yazdi has been eyeing Khamenei’s position. If true, Yazdi could exploit the current turmoil to move against the supreme leader, but Nafisi thinks the rumors are overblown. “He’s on Khamenei’s payroll,” he says. “[Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini hated Yazdi. It was Khamenei who lifted him up and gave him his position.”

On the other hand, Nafisi also believes that the relationship between Yazdi and Ahmadinejad has been exaggerated, noting that in the run-up to the election Yazdi “said nothing in support” of the president. But if Yazdi is not overly fond of Ahmadinejad, he absolutely despises Iran’s reformists and is unlikely to favor concessions to them.

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