Imprisoned by the Shah, at one time the most likely successor to Khomeini, and now one of the most consistent critics of the Islamic Republic--Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has once again called it as he sees it. The current government of Iran is a dictatorship that uses Islam to control and oppress. Yes, he lives in Iran, and he makes pronouncements like this from time to time. In retrospect, I really wish he had one ounce of Rafsanjani's political cunning; because if he did he would have been Supreme Leader instead of Khamenei (the Usurper) back in 1989. Iran would be very different now if that had come to pass.
If you want to catch up on some of the back-story on this there was an excellent article the Spiegel a few weeks ago. Here is your Link: Revolution Leaders Struggle for Power in Tehran
Rafsanjani, Khamenei and Montazeri go way back, and throughout the Revolution and the early days of the Islamic Republic they followed different courses.
Here's a picture of this wonderful wise old man:
Here's the quote appearing in a number of articles today:
"The biggest oppression is the despotic treatment of the people in the name of Islam. I hope the responsible authorities give up the deviant path they are pursuing and restore the trampled rights of the people. I hope authorities have the courage to announce that this ruling system is neither a Republic nor Islamic, and that nobody has the right to suppress opinion or criticism."
As dramatic as this statement appears, it remains doubtful that the regime will do anything to this man. His reputation as an Islamic scholar is stellar and there are never more than a handful of Grand Ayatollahs at any time so he's really untouchable. In case you want to see one of the full articles Here's your link:Iran:Ayatollah Montazeri Clashes With Ayatollah Khamenei
There are many articles like this, all you need to do is search: Iran, News, Montazeri.
What possibilities remain? What chance is there that this man's influence could have an actual impact? The biggest thing on the horizon will be the next meeting of The Assembly of Experts. This body has authority over the Supreme Leader, and they could rebuke, direct, or remove him (Khamenei). Many of the letters and protests have been going to this group, and the hope was that they would meet before Ramadan started. They did not. They are supposed to meet twice annually according to the constitution, and they will likely meet by November. Rafsanjani heads that group, and many moderate clerics also belong to that elected body. Will pronouncements like this resonate with those clerics? Yes. This type of statement gives them political cover if they choose to use it, to check Khamenei's power. The big question is--Are there a majority of moderates now in the Assembly of Experts? Rafsanjani faced a serious challenge to his authority last March as hard-line Ayatollah Yazdi sought control of the body. Yazdi is even more conservative than Khamenei. Rafsanjani received twice as many votes as Yazdi then. One would think that the last six months has only confirmed the wisdom of that vote.
I sincerely hope that Montazeri keeps this up. I think he will; I think that's the point. The clergy has to move to check the militarization of the regime. If they do not in the next few months, they may not have such an opportunity again for some time.