Iran has arrested an aide to Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri following fresh criticism by the dissident cleric against Islamic republic leaders over freedom, reports said on Sunday.
“An information aide in Ayatollah Montazeri’s office has been arrested in Qom after publishing his recent comments,” reformist Kargozaran newspaper said.
Montazeri’s official website said security officials in the religious city of Qom arrested mid-ranking cleric Mojtaba Lotfi on Wednesday after he published a sermon by Montazeri at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
“Why aren’t your slogans in line with your action? You describe Iran as the freest country in the world while you take away legitimate and legal liberties inside the country,” Montazeri said on October 1 according to his website.
Montazeri had at one time been tapped as successor to the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini but fell from grace in the late 1980s after he became too openly critical of political and cultural restrictions.
“When you treat me like this… what could happen to ordinary people,” said the 85-year-old senior cleric. “I pray that God may grant wisdom and insight to the officials and leaders.”
One of the main architects of the Islamic republic, Montazeri was put under house arrest in 1997 and was freed in January 2003 on health grounds.
He has been critical of President Mahmoud… >>>
