Mohammad Jawad Bachonar Iranian politician, Prime Minister Country: Iran

1. Early Life and Imprisonment
2. Religious Scholarship and Political Re-emergence
3. Founding the Islamic Republican Party
4. Minister of Education and Cultural Revolution
5. Prime Minister and Secretary-General of IRP
6. Assassination

Early Life and Imprisonment

Mohsen Rezaei Bahonar was born in Kerman, Iran. In the 1960s, he was imprisoned for engaging in anti-government activities.

Religious Scholarship and Political Re-emergence

After his release from prison, Bahonar focused on writing Islamic educational texts, abstaining from active politics for an extended period.

Founding the Islamic Republican Party

Following the Iranian Revolution, Bahonar co-founded the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) and joined the newly formed Iranian Revolutionary Council.

Minister of Education and Cultural Revolution

In March 1981, Bahonar became Minister of Education in the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Rajai. He implemented a policy of purging secular influences from Iranian universities, known as the Cultural Revolution.

Prime Minister and Secretary-General of IRP

When Rajai was elected President in August 1981, Bahonar assumed the role of Prime Minister. After the assassination of Mohammad Beheshti, Bahonar also became the Secretary-General of the IRP.

Assassination

Bahonar's tenure as Prime Minister and IRP Secretary-General was short-lived. On September 30, 1981, a bomb exploded in his Tehran office, killing him and several other party leaders, including President Rajai. The assassin was identified as Massoud Kashmiri, an agent of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) who had infiltrated the Prime Minister's office posing as a state security official.