Mohammad Mahdi Mirbaqiri Shahroudi (born 1961) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who serves as the head of Qom Academy of Islamic Sciences and is a member of the Assembly of Experts as a representative of Semnan province. Mirbaqiri is also the spiritual leader of the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability (FIRS).
Born in Qom to a Shia clerical family, Mirbaqiri took part in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a teenager. He later fought in the IranâÂÂIraq War (1980âÂÂ1988) as a member of the 17th Ali ibn Abi Talib Division.
Mirbaqiri is considered a high-ranking Ayatollah and part of the clerical establishment within the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is also known to be a close confidant of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Mirbaqiri is an expert on Shia jurisprudence and has issued several (religious verdicts) on various topics.
Mahdi Mirbaqiri was born in 1961 in Qom, Iran to a Shia Muslim clerical family with roots in the Shahrud region of northern Iran. His father, Hasan Mirbaqiri, was a prominent Shia cleric and preacher.
After completing primary education, Mirbaqiri began seminary courses in 1975 at age 14. He took part in political activities against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's rule around this time and participated in the Iranian Revolution under Ruhollah Khomeini. Mirbaqiri then continued religious studies under Mousa Shubairi Zanjani.
Mirbaqiri fought in the IranâÂÂIraq War against the Ba'athist Iraqi forces as a member of 17th Ali ibn Abi Talib Division.
Mirbaqiri was elected as the representative of Alborz province in the Assembly of Experts in the elections of March 2016. He was elected as the representative of Semnan province in the Assembly of Experts in the elections of March 2024.
Following the assassination of Ali Khamenei, Mirbaqiri's name had been raised as a potential candidate for the position of supreme leader prior to the 2026 election. Howevever, his close confidant and Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, was eventually elected.
He has written about the relationship between science and religion as a theorist. An advocate for the division of sciences based on epistemology, Mirbaqiri propses that sciences can be categorized as religious or non-religious.