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Biography
Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri (born 19 October 1948) is an Iranian cleric and diplomat. During the 1980s Taskhiri served as the Iranian representative to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and was involved in promoting Iranian interests during the height of the Iran–Iraq War.
His role, while always significant in the government of Iran, became even more so after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Taskhiri was born in Iraq and has been an important liaison with Shia Iraqi organizations. He was a signatory to an intellectual letter from 38 Muslim scholars, sent as the official Islamic response to Islamophobic comments made by Pope Benedict XVI on September 12, 2006. He is one of the Ulama signatories of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy.
He is currently the head of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization in Iran.