Shahid Motahari University (Persian: مدرسه عالی شهید مطهری [fa]) was built in 1879 by Mirza Hosein Sepahsalar (Persian: میرزا حسین سهپسالار).

[1] After the revolution in 1979, Ayatollah Emami-Kashani was the President of the university until his passing.

Since then, the university has mostly focused on religious studies and social sciences.

It is known for its graduate programs in Philosophy, Law, and Islamic Jurisprudence.

[2] Some its notable alumni include Ebrahim Raisi (a previous President of Iran), Ali Khamenei (the supreme leader of Iran), Massoud Khamenei (the third son of Iran's supreme leader and a major Shia cleric in his own right), Mohammad Javad Hajaliakbari, (cleric and conservative politician), and Mahdi Khamooshi (president of the Endowment and Charity Affair Organization),[3] as well as other members of the Iranian theocatic intelligentsia and assorted governmental echelons.