Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Iran's most senior dissident cleric, has died, official media has reported. Montazeri, 87, was an architect of the 1979 Islamic revolution who fell out with the present leadership. He had been held under house arrest for several years. "Hossein Ali Montazeri passed away in his home last night," the official IRNA news agency said on Sunday. Montazeri lived in the city of Qom, which lies south of Tehran, and was referred to as the spiritual leader of the opposition after the country's recent disputed election. His funeral will be held on Monday and he will be buried in the shrine of Masoumeh, a revered Shia figure, in Qom, his office told AFP. Foreign media are banned from covering the ceremony.
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Iran's most senior dissident cleric, has died, official media has reported.
Montazeri, 87, was an architect of the 1979 Islamic revolution who fell out with the present leadership.
He had been held under house arrest for several years.
"Hossein Ali Montazeri passed away in his home last night," the official IRNA news agency said on Sunday.
Montazeri lived in the city of Qom, which lies south of Tehran, and was referred to as the spiritual leader of the opposition after the country's recent disputed election.
His funeral will be held on Monday and he will be buried in the shrine of Masoumeh, a revered Shia figure, in Qom, his office told AFP.
Foreign media are banned from covering the ceremony.
One of Iran's most prominent dissident clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, has died aged 87.Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran's Islamic state, and was at one stage set to become its leader. One of Shia Islam's most respected figures, he was also a leading critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The BBC's Jon Leyne says the death comes at a crucial time in a standoff between the government and opposition. Iran's rulers will now fear the opposition may attempt a big turnout for his funeral on Monday and other ceremonies marking his death, especially in the run-up to the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura on 27 December, our correspondent says.
One of Iran's most prominent dissident clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, has died aged 87.
Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran's Islamic state, and was at one stage set to become its leader.
One of Shia Islam's most respected figures, he was also a leading critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The BBC's Jon Leyne says the death comes at a crucial time in a standoff between the government and opposition.
Iran's rulers will now fear the opposition may attempt a big turnout for his funeral on Monday and other ceremonies marking his death, especially in the run-up to the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura on 27 December, our correspondent says.
