Nasrollah Moghtader Mojdehi

Following the revolution, due to his prior public service in the pre-revolutionary government, Mojdehi was imprisoned at Ghasre prison from May until August 1979. Mojdehi's well-known reputation for excellence in internal medicine and singular ability to diagnose difficult cases served as a means of his release. Over 120 physicians signed a petition addressed to the then leaders of the country asking for his release, given his service to the country. In addition, as fate would have it, a senior and highly influential cleric fell ill and the cause of his illness could not be determined. In search for a cure, the senior cleric identified Mojdehi as the best physician to diagnose the cleric's illness. Later, the grateful cleric was instrumental in securing the release of Mojdehi after six months of imprisonment.

Known by his peers and students as “Dr. Mojdehi”, his excellence, independence, and reform orientation and principled leadership, propelled him through the hierarchy of universities in Iran and ultimately resulted in his appointment as Iranian Minister of Health in 1978.

Consistent with his past principles and focus on instituting necessary reforms, his speeches on the Senate floor raised awareness of the need for progress in the areas of health and development, and he quickly gained a reputation as an advocate for liberalization and change. Given his reputation as a reformer and agent of positive change, in 1978, when controversy swirled around the existing cabinet appointee in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sheikoleslami, Dr. Mojdehi was appointed Minister of Health in the Amouzegar Cabinet. He stayed on as Minister of Health in Sharif Emami's Cabinet. However, his tenure as minister was quickly overshadowed by the civil unrest that was developing in Iran. Interestingly, after his final personal meeting with the Shah in September 1978, he returned upset to a meeting with his deputies and pronounced that "the country is lost." Soon thereafter, he clashed with Monuchehr Azmoun, the deputy Prime Minister who sought to block Mojdehi's decision to appoint a Jewish physician as a deputy at the Ministry of Health. Unwilling to bend to the influence of Azmoun, Mojdehi unilaterally resigned as Minister of Health, without seeking the permission of the Shah. Unilateral resignations by cabinet ministers were unprecedented, and Mojdehi's public resignation based upon a matter of principle forever etched his reputation as a man of integrity and courage.

After two years in Mashad, in 1974 to 1976, Dr. Mojdehi returned to Tehran where he was elected to the Senate, representing Tehran in 1976.

After his return to Iran in 1966, he rejoined the faculty of Tehran university of medical sciences (Persian: دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران) as Professor of Internal Medicine with a specialty in Infectious Disease. A protégé of the late Dr. Manouchehr Eghbal, Dr. Mojdehi quickly rose through the ranks at the University, becoming a full Professor in 1967. In 1971, Dr. Mojdehi was tapped to become Dean of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences. From 1967 to 1969 Dr. Mojdehi served as Vice Chancellor of Tehran University under Chancellor Alikhani, where he distinguished himself by resolving a major protest at Pahlavi Hospital by para-medical personnel. In 1974, at the command of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavī, and on the advice of Asadollah Alam, Minister of Court, Dr. Mojdehi assumed the role of Chancellor at University of Mashhad (Persian: دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد), the largest research university in Eastern Iran.

Mojdehi graduated from high school and received his diploma with distinction from Shahpour High School in Rasht, Iran, in 1940.

From 1940 to 1946, he attended the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, where he distinguished himself and joined the faculty. He completed a post-doctoral program at the University of Edinburgh. He completed a fellowship program in 1966 at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Nasrollah Moghtader Mojdehi (Persian: نصرالله مقتدر مژدهی; born April 3, 1921 in Rasht, Iran, died May 22, 2012 in London, England) was an influential Iranian academician, professor of internal medicine, and public servant, having served as a Senator in the pre-revolutionary Iranian Senate, and Minister of Health in the Amouzegar Cabinet and for a short period in the Sharif-Emami Cabinet.