Iran's Dissident Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Dies

The BBC reports, “senior Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri has died, state-run Iranian media say”:

It is not yet clear how the 87-year-old theologian, who was based in the holy city Qom, south of Tehran, passed away.

“Hoseyn Ali Montazeri passed away in his home last night,” Irna news agency said without mentioning his title.

He was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran’s Islamic state. [Gosh, no bias here — Ed] He was also a leading critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

One of Shia Islam’s most respected figures, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri issued a fatwa condemning President Ahmadinejad’s government after June’s disputed election.

But that was not his first clash with authority.

In 1997 he famously clashed with Iran’s ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after questioning the powers of the Supreme Leader.

This led to the closure of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s religious school, an attack on his office in Qom and a period of house arrest.

Earlier this month, Michael Ledeen wrote that protesters in Iran received support from Montazeri:

They are receiving very strong support from leading clerics,  above all Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, who declared the movement to be “the real representation of the legitimate demands of the majority of the Iranian nation, over many years.” And he delivered a fierce denunciation of the regime:

Once again I emphasize and repeat, I warn the rulers that the way you are walking on, will bring nothing but damage and destruction not just to the religion, but also to the ‘earthly’ issues – both on yourselves and on the nation. Being loyal to the law and respecting the nation’s right is the best way to show a ruler’s good will. Selfishness, greed, domination and the acts of violence against the nation – the irreligious & illegal show trials of respected politicians, and the heavy sentences for them, will have the outcome of isolation of the country and the system in the world. And puts even more distance between the people and the rulers, and is destroying the face of the ‘oppressed Islam’. And in the end it will bring God’s anger.

I’m sure Michael will soon have a post exploring how Montazeri’s death impacts “The Iranian Circus.”