TEHRAN – Ayatollah Mohyeddin Haaeri Shirazi, a former member of the Assembly of Experts, passed away on Wednesday in a hospital in Qom.

Born in Shiraz on February 1, 1937, the ayatollah was an active figure in the Iranian people’s struggle against the rule of the Shah that led to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He was arrested and tortured several times by the Shah regime.

After the revolution, he was appointed as Shiraz’s Friday prayer leader by Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Top Iranian officials expressed grief over his demise.

MH/PA