About This Lesson
On November 15, 2011, Mohammad Javad Ardashir Larijani spoke at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs on a variety of topics concerning Iranian politics. At the time of the talk, he was a senior advisor to the head of the Judiciary and secretary general of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Previously, he has served as a Majlis representative (member of Parliament), the director of Majlis Research Center, and a vice minister of foreign affairs.
In the classroom-friendly excerpt found *here,* Mohammad Javad Ardashir Larijani explains why he views Iran's government as a "democratic structure based on Islamic rationality," and what exactly that means. The text can help students understand how Iran in the government's eyes is a hybrid of a theocracy and democracy. The full text of the talk can be found here.
This worksheet is great for a global history, world history, or comparative government course.
Photo: View of inside of the Iranian Parliament. CREDIT: Mahdi Sigari via Wikipedia
