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Iranian reformist politician, born on December 19, 1951 in Yazd, central Iran. IranAn electrical engineer and university professor, he headed the Omid Iranian (Iranians' Hope) Institute for Studies, and held several political and academic positions.
He was the first vice president. Mohammad Khatami During his second term (2001 to 2005), he also won membership in Shura Council (Parliament) from 2016 to 2020 for cities Tehran Rey and Shemiranat. In August 2024, he was appointed by the Iranian President Masoud Bazeshkian First Vice President.
Birth and upbringing
Mohammad Reza Aref was born on December 19, 1951 in Yazd, the son of Haj Mirza Ahmad Aref, who was a merchant in Yazd.
Mohammad Reza Aref's wife is Hamideh Marouj Farshi, a doctor, and they have three children. They met when he was secretary of the Iranian Islamic Students' Union in United States of America before Iranian Revolution.
Mohammad Reza Aref and Hamideh Marouj met through cooperation and exchange of experiences between student unions, as Hamideh was at that time a student in the Faculty of Medicine and a member of the Islamic Association of Shiraz University Students.
Study and scientific formation
Arif excelled in mathematics since he was a child, and in 1969 he won first place in the national mathematics competition, and a year later he won second place in the national university entrance exam.
He studied electrical engineering at the Technical College of Tehran University, and before the revolution, he used to help hold religious meetings during his study days at Tehran University.
He was arrested in 1975 by the riot control unit of the Shah's intelligence service. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi SAVAK, and in the same year he graduated from university with distinction, and traveled to America on a scholarship from Isfahan University of Technology.
During his years of study in the United States, he was an official and active member of the Muslim Students Association in America and Canada. In 1976, he obtained a master’s degree, then a doctorate in 1980 in the field of communications electricity from Stanford University.
Political experience
Mohammad Reza Aref ran for the Iranian presidential election in 2013 on the reformist side, under the slogan “Economy, Dignity, and Rationality.”
His candidacy was approved by Guardian CouncilBut after a month of campaigning, he withdrew 4 days before the vote in favor of the then candidate. Hassan Rouhani Who became president of the country in that election, and won a second term in the following election.
In the 10th round of the Majlis (parliament) elections, he was at the top of the list of 30 members of the “Comprehensive Coalition of Reformists: Second Step” in Tehran, and was able to enter the 10th Majlis with more than 1.6 million votes.
In that election, the reformists won all 30 seats in Tehran, and Aref received the highest votes in Tehran and throughout the country.
Aref founded the Omid Iranian Institute for Studies and Research (its name means “Hope of Iranians”), and in order to increase the coordination of the reformist movement for the 10th Parliament elections, he proposed the idea of forming a reformist policy-making council and assumed its chairmanship.
He entered parliament as the first member of the reformist list in Tehran, known as the “Omid” (Hope) list, and served as the faction's leader.
Duties and Responsibilities
In 1981 he was appointed Chairman of the Iranian Telecommunications Company, and later held other positions including:
- Planning and Development Agent at Telecommunications Company.
- Student Agent at the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.
- Undersecretary of Education at the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.
- Deputy Minister of Education.
- Deputy Coordinator of the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.
- President of Tehran University in the early 1990s.
- In the first government of President Khatami, he held the position of Minister of Post.
- Head of Planning and Budget Organization.
- Vice President to President Khatami in his second term (2001-2005).
- Member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
