Word: qom
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...past 31 years, the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran have attempted to diminish the public's attachment to these holidays. Last week, the Friday-prayers leader in the seminary city of Qom, Ayatullah Reza Ostadi, said Chaharshanbe Suri "is no different from other days, and, given that the outsiders of the establishment have heavily invested in this day, we must turn our backs on it." Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei echoed those sentiments, issuing a statement on his website Sunday in which, in reference to the celebration, he wrote that it has "no basis in shari'a [Islamic...
...Montazeri, who died at 87 in the holy city of Qom, was one of only a handful of grand ayatullahs in Shi'ite Islam. Having once been designated to succeed the revolution's founder, Grand Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, as Supreme Leader, his outspoken criticism of the regime gave cover and legitimacy to the opposition Green Movement - and infuriated a theocracy ruled by his clerics of lesser rank. (See pictures of the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri...
...really have a reply when Montazeri proclaims that the Islamic Republic of Iran is neither Islamic nor a Republic," said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His immense standing was reflected in the fact that news of his death sent thousands of Iranians streaming to Qom. Grand Ayatollahs walked to his home in a show of respect, while opposition websites reported new protests against the regime at several universities. Several showed video clips of supporters shouting "Montazeri, your path will continue" and "Our green Montazeri, congratulations on your freedom...
...Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons while avoiding a potentially catastrophic third U.S. war in a Muslim country within a single decade. But his approach has started to show more promise. At recent talks in Geneva, Tehran agreed to inspections of its previously secret enrichment plant under construction at Qom, as well as to a deal that would involve sending a substantial portion of its current stock of enriched uranium abroad for processing into harmless reactor-fuel rods. Still, while Iran may be open to taking steps to strengthen safeguards against it turning fissionable material into weapons, it remains unlikely...
...Iran's approach to the Oct. 1 talks is unlikely to be uniformly defiant or belligerent. Its response to demands from the U.S. and other international players to open the Qom enrichment site to inspection may be indicative of its broader approach. While declaring its refusal even to discuss the Qom plant at Geneva, Tehran has indicated that it will open the site to IAEA inspectors "in the near future." The Iranians are probably hoping for a repeat of the experience of its main enrichment facility at Natanz - which was also constructed in secret but then subjected to an ongoing...