In office 2000–2002 Consecration 1986 | Denomination Anglican Predecessor Ghais Malik | |
Church Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East Successor Clive Handford, Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf Other posts Assistant Bishop in Iran (1986–1990)
Bishop in Iran (1990–2002)
Interim Bishop in Iran (2002–2004)
Honorary assistant bishop, Dioceses of Lichfield and of Birmingham (2005–present) Ordination 1959 (deacon); 1960 (priest) Alma mater United Theological College, Bangalore | ||
Iraj Kalimi Mottahedeh (Īraj Mottaḥeda; born 1932) is a retired Anglican bishop.
Mottahedeh trained for the priesthood at United Theological College, Bangalore and was ordained a deacon in 1959 and a priest in 1960, while serving as curate at St Luke's Isfahan (the See church of the Diocese of Iran) from 1959 until 1962. He then served as vicar successively of three of the diocese's four churches — St Simon the Zealot, Shiraz (1962–1966); St Paul's, Tehran (1967–1975); and St Luke's, Isfahan (1975–1983) — before being appointed Archdeacon of Iran (1983–1986).
On 11 June 1986, he was consecrated as Assistant Bishop in Iran. Following Hassan Dehqani-Tafti (diocesan Bishop in Iran)'s flight into exile (to the United Kingdom with his British-born wife) in 1980, Mottahedeh became the only priest in all Iran, and was unable to leave the country; upon Tafti's eventual retirement in 1990, Mottahedeh naturally succeeded him as diocesan Bishop in Iran. During his episcopate, he also served as President Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East (2000–2002); he retired in 2002 but continued to serve his diocese as Interim Bishop in Iran until 2004. He then retired to the UK, where he has been licensed since 2005 as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Lichfield (where he lives) and the neighbouring Diocese of Birmingham.