TEHRAN, (Reuters) – Iran’s most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, has died at the age of 87, providing a fresh catalyst for renewed demonstrations against the country’s hardline leadership.
Supporters of Montazeri, an architect of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, were flocking to the Shi’ite holy city of Qom for the cleric’s funeral today, the moderate Parlemannews website said.
Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi urged supporters to attend the funeral, declaring today a day of national mourning, the reformist Jaras website said.
Riot police were already on the streets in parts of Qom, where Montazeri lived and died, the reformist Tagheer website said. Demonstrations in Qom, the seat of Shi’ite learning in Iran, would embarrass Iran’s hardline rulers, particularly if large numbers of Islamic seminary students were to join in.
Montazeri’s death from a heart attack, reported by official media yesterday, coincides with tension rising once again in the Islamic Republic, six months after the presidential poll plunged the major oil producer into political crisis.
“My grandfather died in his sleep last night. People and friends are coming to express their condolences,” Naser Montazeri said from Qom, 125 km (78 miles) south of Tehran.
Hundreds of Montazeri supporters took to the streets in his home town of Najafabad, both mourning his loss and chanting slogans, video posted on the Internet showed. Shops in the traditionally moderate town had their shutters down and cloaked in black cloth pinned with pictures of the late cleric.
“Montazeri, congratulations on your freedom,” the crowd chanted, and “Dictator, dictator, Montazeri’s path will be followed”.
Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, expressed condolences on the ayatollah’s passing, adding: “He was known and internationally respected for his unwavering commitment to universal rights.”
Today’s funeral, to start at 0530 GMT at Qom’s main shrine, is expected to become a rallying point for the reformist opposition, London-based Iran analyst Baqer Moin said.
“The amount of support shown to him will hearten the opposition who are mourning his loss,” Moin said.
The Jaras website said a pro-reform cleric, Ahmad Qabel, was detained yesterday on his way to the funeral from the northeastern city of Mashhad. He was a student of Montazeri and was travelling with friends and family.
The reports were not possible to verify independently, as foreign media have been banned from reporting on protests and also from travelling to Qom for Montazeri’s funeral.
