Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel

Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (Persian: غلامعلی حداد عادل), born on 9 May 1945 in Tehran, Iran, is an Iranian political figure and academic. He is a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and has served as the chairman of the Iranian Parliament. Haddad-Adel was the first non-cleric to hold the chairmanship of the Parliament since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Early Life and Education:

Haddad-Adel was born into a business family in Tehran. He pursued higher education in physics, obtaining a Bachelor's degree from the University of Tehran and a Master's degree from the University of Shiraz. He later earned a PhD in philosophy from the University of Tehran in 1975. His philosophical studies included Islamic philosophy under Morteza Motahhari and the philosopher Sayyed Hossein Nasr, known for his critiques of Marxism.

Career:

Following the Iranian Revolution, Haddad-Adel became a member of the Islamic Republic Party and held various governmental positions. He served as deputy culture and Islamic guidance minister in 1979 and as deputy education minister from 1982 to 1993. Since 1995, he has been the head of the Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature, excluding the period from August 2004 to 2008. He is also the executive director of the Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation. Haddad-Adel contributed to establishing Iran's national Scientific Olympiads and has been involved in academia and cultural organizations.

Parliamentary Service:

Haddad-Adel served in the Iranian Parliament for over thirteen years across four terms. In the 2000 parliamentary election, after recounts by the Council of Guardians, he was ranked as the 33rd candidate from Tehran following the annulment of numerous votes. In the 2004 elections, he received the highest votes from Tehran and became the speaker of the Parliament. His tenure as speaker lasted one year, beginning on 6 June 2004, and he was the first non-cleric to hold this position since the revolution.

From 2008 to 2026, Haddad-Adel has served as an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He also sought the position of Majlis speaker in 2012 but was unsuccessful. He is a member of the High Council of Cultural Revolution and continues to be active in the Expediency Discernment Council.

Foreign Relations and Political Activities:

As speaker of Parliament, Haddad-Adel condemned the bombings of the al-Askari Shrine in 2006 and 2007 and emphasized promoting solidarity among Islamic countries. In January 2008, he visited Cairo for high-level talks with Egyptian officials, marking the first such engagement after the Islamic Revolution.

In 2012, he formed a political coalition named 2+1 with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ali Akbar Velayati ahead of the presidential election. He withdrew his candidacy shortly before the election, urging voters to consider the criteria of the Supreme Leader and favoring a conservative candidate.

Academic and Literary Work:

Haddad-Adel is the second president of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature. His focus has been on language policy and the promotion of the Persian language. He has authored several publications on Islam, social sciences, and philosophy, including textbooks and encyclopedic works.

He translated Immanuel Kant's "Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics" and Justus Hartnack's "Kant's Theory of Knowledge." Additionally, he translated the Quran into Persian over nine years, aiming for conceptual clarity to facilitate understanding among Persian readers.

Personal Life:

Haddad-Adel is married to Tayyebeh Mahrouzadeh, and they have one son and three daughters. His daughter, Zahra, was married to Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Zahra was reportedly killed during the U.S.–Israeli airstrikes in the 2026 Iran war.

Recognition:

In 2019, Haddad-Adel was honored as the Literary Figure of the Year at the 17th Golden Pen Awards.

Public Image:

A 2016 poll indicated that Haddad-Adel enjoyed a net approval rating of +24%, with 51% approval and 27% disapproval among Iranian citizens.