Mohammad Yazdii

Mohammad Yazdi (Persian: محمد یزدی‎, born 2 July 1931 in Isfahan) is an Iranian cleric who served as the head of Judiciary System of Iran between 1989 and 1999. In 2015, he was elected to lead Iran's Assembly of Experts, defeating Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president, by a vote count of 47 to 24.

Mohammad Yazdi was born in 1931 to a religious family at Isfahan. Sheikh Ali Yazdi, his father, was a student of Sheikh Abdul Karim Haeri and at one of the Isfahan mosques as chief mullah for Friday prayers and ceremonies investigated the people problems.

Educational

At first, Ayatollah Yazdi learned Persian language from his father and then went to Maktab. Also he departed to newly founded school to continue his educational. When he went to Qom, he resided at the Feyziyeh School and learned religious courses from scholars such as Mohammad Ali Araki, Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Amoli, Ayatollah Shahroudi, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi and Imam Khomeini.

Before victory of Iranian Revolution

Ayatollah Yazdi usually gave the lectures at mosques and house of scholars. Also he taught Morality course at the Feyziyeh School and discussed about politic subjects. Mohammad Yazdi was exiled by SAVAK many times to Bandar Lengeh, Bushire and Rudbar.

After victory of Iranian Revolution

After Khamenei became leader of the Iranian Republic, Ayatollah Yazdi served as the president of the Supreme Court. He remained in the post for many years before being replaced by Muhammad Hashemi shahreoudi. Yazdi was a member of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council. He served as the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran.

There is some of the Political career of Ayatollah Yazdi after Iranian Revolution as fallowing:

• Management of Imam khomeini's Office in Qom
• Member of the dispute resolution council between Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Abolhassan Banisadr
• Member of the Assembly of Experts constitution in 1358
• Chief mullah for Friday prayers of Tehran in 1360
• Chief Justice of Iran 1368 to 1378
• Member of the Assembly of Experts since 1369
• Member of Iranian Parliament from 1361 to 1368 in Qom and Tehran
• Vice chairman of Iranian Parliament in the first and second periods
• Member of Guardian Council in the periods of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth
• One of the founders and secretary of Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom

United States

In the run-up to the February 2016 elections, Yazdi opposed bilateral relations with the United States. In the popular election held in February 2016 for Assembly of Experts candidates, incumbent Chairman Yazdi was not among the 16 experts who received enough votes to represent Tehran in the Fifth Assembly of Experts.

Many western media outlets pointed to Yazdi's exit from the Assembly when providing emphasizing the gains that reformists made in the 2016 elections.In a speech congratulating those elected to the Fifth Assembly of Experts, Yazdi advocated for peaceful, moderate relations with other countries, but went on to warn about dealing with enemies and characterized America as "The Great Satan". Two days later, Fars News Agency reported the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei lamented the Assembly's loss of Yazdi as Chairman and warned of the risk that the West could influence or infiltrate Iran. As of 9 May 2016, Yazdi remained on the Guardian Council, which vets potential candidates for the Assembly of Experts. During Yazdi's tenure on the Guardian Council, human-rights organizations have criticized the Guardian Council's disqualification of reform candidates in the 2016 elections.

In February 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Yazdi for "preventing free and fair elections in Iran."

Ayatollah Yazdi authored several books in English and Persian such as, Your missing, Answers of Mardooq's accusations and Imamah in Shia Islam.