Word: revolutionization
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Grand Ayatullah Hossein Ali Montazeri was known as Iran's defiant cleric, first in challenging the autocratic rule of the Shah, and then later in confronting the very revolution he had helped foment. Now, the big question in Tehran is whether his sudden death of natural causes will catalyze a...
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...
Following the disputed June 12 election, Montazeri publicly questioned the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and warned Iran's security forces that they would have to answer to God for their actions against protestors. In a soul-searching letter to Iran's clerics and seminaries, Montazeri recently stated: "The goal...
Montazeri's transformation is a microcosm of Iran's revolutionary experience, and the evolving split among the clerics. "Montazeri began as a radical and a principle architect of the system of government that placed so much power in the hands of the Supreme Leader," said Shaul Bakhash, author of The...
But on the revolution's 10th anniversary in 1989, Monatzeri dared to criticize the regime for failing to fulfill its early promise. He condemned mass executions of dissidents. And he called on the government to correct "past mistakes." After Khomeini's fatwa imposing a death sentence on Satanic Verses author...