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| Iran | ||
| Sons, Aides of Top Iran Cleric Arrested | ||
| 2003-11-03 | ||
| AP from Newsday EFL Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri’s sons, Ahmad and Saeed Montazeri, plus his aides, Reza Ziaei and Gholamreza Hojjati, were taken into custody by plainclothes security agents in Qom, a holy city 80 miles southwest of Tehran, Zahra Rabbani, Ahmad’s wife, told The Associated Press. Rabbani said Iranian authorities gave no reason for the arrests, but the move came after she had decided to turn a building next to her home into a seminary school for the elder Montazeri to teach in. What could be wrong with teaching? Security agents have closed the building, which is where Monday’s arrests occurred. Montazeri, 81, resumed teaching in September after spending five years under house arrest in Qom for telling students that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was incompetent to issue religious rulings. Ah, a rather controversial curriculum. Montazeri had also accused ruling hard-line clerics of monopolizing power and ignoring the democratic demands of ordinary Iranians. Must have been on a roll that day. Khamenei denounced him as a traitor and the mosque where he made the speech was closed. So much for civil debate of the issues. Following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Montazeri had been the designated successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That was until he fell out with Khomeini shortly before his 1989 death after complaining about powers wielded by unelected clerics. Didn’t learn his lesson. Stays on message, though. Criticizing Khamenei is considered taboo in Iran and critics are subject to punishment. At least he wasn’t walking on the beach holding hands with his wife. The get out the baseball bats for that type of thing. But in recent months, reformers have become bolder and directly criticized Khamenei and the unelected bodies he controls. On Monday, Mojtaba Lotfi, a close aide to the grand ayatollah, said the mosque Montazeri preached at in Qom has remained closed since he was first placed under house arrest. "They (hard-liners) believe the mosque where Khamenei was criticized in should never open again," he said. "It is apparently a symbolic decision to tell everyone that Khamenei should not be criticized." I don’t know how Allah will feel about closing a place of worship for that type of reason. I’m thinking he might not buy in to the whole temporal politics reasoning. Who am I to say, though? Being the infidel and all.
This guy just doesn’t give up. You got to respect that. Montazeri, who is in poor health, is one of a few grand ayatollahs, the most senior theologians of the Shiite Muslim faith. He enjoys huge followings in Qom and Isfahan, his birthplace. Notice how they didn’t want to have him die in custody. Would have been a little more controversial than having his sons succumb to simultaneous In my mind I think I can pretend that this guy is a moderate. Just nobody ask him for his views on Israel. | ||
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #3 Montazeri had also accused ruling hard-line clerics of monopolizing power and ignoring the democratic demands of ordinary Iranians. There's your reason for the arrests. Any other questions? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-3 3:36:30 PM |
| #2 From what I've heard the Grand Ayatollahs aren't too hot on the idea of an Islamic Republic (the thelogical justification is a tad flimsy AIUI.) The top guys in the regime are only middle ranking clergymen, Khamene'i is a mere Hojjatoleslam who was promoted by decree to Ayatollahood when Khomeyni keeled over, 'Rafsanjani' (Behramani) still is a Hojjatie, though he now styles himself a full blown Ayatollah (is pride a deadly sin in Islam?) Khamene'i is also seen as an also-ran by people like Montazeri, which doesn't help matters (from the IRI's POV.) |
| Posted by: Dave 2003-11-3 3:24:26 PM |
| #1 I wonder, when they sow those places with salt, do they use rock salt? Or is it regular table salt? Kosher salt. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-3 2:43:32 PM |