Motahari is a brother-in-law of the current Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani,[12] and a harsh critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[13] He criticized Ahmadinejad for his "self-centered" policies saying: "It is unprecedented and inappropriate that a president simply says I do not accept this law and will not execute it. This is a sign of despotism."[13] Motahhari tried to summon Ahmadinejad to parliament to face questioning and possible impeachment. Though a conservative, he has been something of a maverick.
On 13 March 2015, Motahari was injured in an attack by "motorcycle thugs" before giving a speech at Shiraz University.[14]
In 2020, he suggested that the Islamic Republic was to partially blame for the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, saying "We have scared the Arabs and pushed them towards Israel. An example of this is storming the Saudi embassy and setting it ablaze. The policy of making Iran the enemy has been fruitful. This needs to be remedied." This was a highly unusual response contrasted to that of other Iranian politicians.[15][16]
On April 6, 2021, Motahari sparked controversy after he said in a podcast that European men were "not aroused and women are resorting to African men."[17][better source needed]
According to a poll conducted in March 2016 by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranian citizens, Motahhari has 36% approval and 15% disapproval ratings and thus a +21% net popularity; while 40% of responders don't recognize the name.[22]
