Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, First Secretary of Guardian Council, Passes Away

Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Monday evening, Bahman 12, citing informed sources, that Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani, the first secretary of the Guardian Council and one of the prominent sources of emulation for Shiites, has passed away.

The report attributed Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani’s death to cardiac arrest, stating that this occurred following a period of illness.

Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani’s recent statements regarding Iran’s conditions and the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy had been controversial.

In early November of this year, this source of emulation met with Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and criticized the rising prices of goods in the country, stating that “one of the main ways to improve matters” is Iran’s relations with all countries of the world, and “being in conflict with many countries is not correct and is detrimental to our dear people.”

These remarks prompted reactions from some fundamentalist media outlets, with the Rajanews website describing his statements as “political imitation of secular forces” and “reprehensible and entirely wrong.”

On the other hand, Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani repeatedly defended restrictive policies toward women, such as preventing their attendance at stadiums and even refusing to send Iranian female athletes to sporting events outside the country.

For instance, several years ago, he called the participation of Iranian female athletes in the Guangzhou Asian Games “a cause for shame,” and consistently emphasized gender segregation in universities.

Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani served as the first secretary of the Guardian Council from December 1980 to July 1988. He also participated in the Assembly of Experts, which drafted the Islamic Republic’s Constitution.

Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani was born on Bahman 30, 1918, and was on the eve of turning 103 years old.

Source: Radio Farda