Mohammad Reza Aref (Persian: محمدرضا عارف, born 19 December 1951) is an Iranian engineer, academic and politician who is currently parliamentary leader of reformists' Hope fraction in the Iranian Parliament, representing Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr. He was First Vice President from 2001 to 2005 under Mohammad Khatami.[2] He previously served as Minister Information and Communications Technology and head of Management and Planning Organization in Khatami's first cabinet. He is currently a member of Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and Expediency Discernment Council. He is also an electrical engineer and a professor at University of Tehran and Sharif University of Technology. He was a candidate in the 2013 presidential election but withdrew his candidacy in order to give the reformist camp a better chance to win.[3]
