Quick Facts
Biography
Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi (Persian: حسن رحیمپور ازغدی) (born 1965) is a prominent conservative IranianShia scholar and theorist and member of Iran's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Azghadi has travelled throughout the world to give lectures, his focus is on social, political, and economic affairs in contemporary Islamic Iran. Some of the subjects he addresses are notably that of the Islamic revolutionary ideology, Imperialism, Westoxification, American hegemony, Social Justice, Capitalism, Communism, Christianity, Hijab (veil), Jihad, Ayatollah Khomeini, Freedom, Marxism, Western moral system, nuclear energy, Israel, Aristotle and Plato, Liberal Democracy, Islamic economics, political Islam but also youth affairs and social struggle.
His lectures are filmed and shown on the IRIB Channel 2 called "A model for tomorrow" (طرحی برای فردا), aired Fridays after the Jumu'ah prayers. Some credit his rise in prominence during the Ahmadinejad presidency to his relation with then head of the IRIB, Ezatollah Zarghami
Personal life
Azghadi was born into a powerful family in Masshad in 1965. He attended the Qom Seminary, studying Dars-e Kharij, an academic level about equivalent to a Phd. Azghadi has notably opted not to wear any traditional religious garb that is often associated with Iranian politicians. In 2003, Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed Azghadi to be a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, which is tasked with adopting large-scale policies on social and cultural matters. In 2007, Azghadi was appointed membership to the Council of Representatives of the Supreme Leader in Universities, which he has used to deliver more speeches and wield a greater presence on university campuses across Iran, contributing to the greater conservative efforts to radicalize campuses, notably using Basij Student Organizations.
Speeches and views
Azaghadi has attacked the climate of the Qom Seminary since the election of Hassan Rouhani, arguing that it has lost its revolutionary pride and become too liberal, leading to greater secularization of Iranian society. Azghadi expressed his disdain for Reformist Present Mohammed Khatami, stating that he cursed the then President from "night until morning" for referring to Abraham Lincoln as a martyr and complimenting American culture. This behavior greatly contrasts to Azghadi's continued praise for Conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom he has credited for leading the most popular government in Iranian history.
On September 23, 2011, Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi attended a gathering of Iran–Iraq War veterans and offered a plan for Iran's current and future foreign policy throughout the world. Azghadi stated that "Our forces today must get ready to head towards North Africa, eastern Asia and the heart of Europe. We must get ready for global operations" and that "In the next 3-4 decades, they must go to help and free their Muslim brothers."
