Seyyed Ali-Asghar Gharavi (Persian: سید علیاصغر غروی) is an Iranian scholar of religion and political activist affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran.[2]
According to the American magazine In These Times, he is "one of Iran's most prominent pro-democracy activists and political thinkers".[3]
In 1998, he was arrested and summoned to the Special Clerical Court for criticizing the regime, despite the fact he is not a cleric.[2] In 2013, Bahar newspaper was banned for publishing an article written by Gharavi, titled “Imam Ali, a Political Leader or a Religious Model?”.[4][5] He was accused of "blasphemy" for implicitly challenging Iran's Supreme Leader.[6]
^ abSaid Amir Arjomand; Nathan J. Brown (2013). The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran. SUNY Press. p. 77, 97. ISBN978-1-4384-4597-7.