Seyyed Hadi Khosroshahi (Persian: سید هادی خسروشاهی; c. 1939 – 27 February 2020) was an Iranian cleric and diplomat who served as Iran's first ambassador to the Vatican.
Hadi Khosroshahi | |
|---|---|
 Hadi Khosroshahi in 2005 | |
| Iranian Ambassador to the Holy See | |
| In office 1981–1986 | |
| Appointed by | Ayatollah Khomeini |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1939 Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Imperial State of Iran |
| Died | 27 February 2020 (aged 80–81) Tehran, Iran |
| Cause of death | COVID-19 |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Relatives | Mohammad Sadeq Rouhani (father-in-law) |
Career
editWhen he was 15 years old, Khosroshahi joined the leader of militant Fada'iyan-e Islam (Devotees of Islam), Sayyid Mojtaba Mir-Lohi, nicknamed Navvab Safavi. He was close to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and reportedly the first person to identify himself as ikhwani (Islamist) Shia.[1] In at least two interviews, he claims to have sought and been denied Khomeini's approval for the assassination of the Islamic Republic's first President, Abolhassan Bani Sadr and Iran's last Queen Farah Pahlavi, both living in exile in Paris.[2]
Khosroshahi was a prominent figure in the Qom Seminary and was a representative of Ayatollah Khomeini in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance after the victory of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. After two years, he became the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the Vatican. He was the first Shi'a clergy serving and representing the Islamic Republic at the Vatican.[3] While in the Vatican, he founded the Europe's Islamic Culture Center, a base for propagating Shi'ism in the West. After serving in the Vatican, Khosroshahi was sent to Cairo, where he represented Tehran for two years at the Islamic Republic's Interest Section.[4]
Death
editKhosroshahi died from COVID-19 on 27 February 2020, in Iran.[5][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "اخوانی گوشهنشین". ایرنا پلاس (in Persian). 2020-03-01. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- ^ "First Prominent Cleric In Iran Dies Of Coronavirus". Radio Farda. 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Iran's former envoy to Vatican Hadi Khosroshahi dies of coronavirus". Al Arabiya English. 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Murió por coronavirus Seyyed Hadi Khosroshahi, ex embajador de Irán en el Vaticano". Infobae (in Spanish). 27 February 2020.
- ^ "Iran's ex-ambassador to Vatican dies of coronavirus". Middle East Monitor. 27 February 2020.
- ^ "First Prominent Cleric In Iran Dies Of Coronavirus". RFE/RL. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-25.