Free Republic

In a SPIEGEL interview, Iranian Ayatollah Mohsen Kadivar, currently a visiting research professor at America's Duke University, discusses the recent death of opposition leader Hossein Ali Montazeri, the frustrations Iranians have with their regime, the future of the green movement and the prospect of an escalation. 'I Am Convinced that the Regime Will Collapse' Iranian reformist clergyman Mohsen Kadivar delivers a speech during a protest in support of... Expand Iranian reformist clergyman Mohsen Kadivar delivers a speech during a protest in support of disqualified reformist MPs at "Islamic Iran Participation Front" (IIPF) headquarters in Tehran, in this file photo. In...

[TEHRAN BUREAU] In a very important development, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the most senior cleric living in Iran, and one of the top two* marja’ taghlid (source of emulation) in Shiite Islam, issued a series of Fatwas, calling the Supreme Leader illegitimate and saying that he was working with the government against religion. Montazeri has called on people to take action against this injustice, even if they have to pay a heavy price for it. Ayatollah Motazeri, who has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Iran’s hard-liners, issued the Fatwas in response to a letter that...