As has been previously covered, "Iran's Rebel Ayatollah" Hossein Ali Montazeri died early Sunday morning December 20th. His funeral sparked a massive outpouring of mourners and protesters, as Montazeri embodied the spirit and religious sanction of the Reform Movement in Iran. See previous diary here: Posted December 21st. There have been a number of pieces on the Ayatollah's life, the protests and clashes from Monday, and some thoughtful reflection. I wish to point to just a few things here.
Unfortunately, but predictably forces loosely associated with the government have appeared in varying numbers to intimidate protesters, but also to suppress immediately anyone who might think of themselves as Ayatollah Montazeri's replacement. Another Grand Ayatollah, Yusef Saanei, who has been vocally supportive of reform candidate Mousavi, had his home in Qom attacked. Rocks were thrown and associates were beaten, although Ayatollah Saanei was untouched. This is typical of the shadowy government forces' behavior toward opposition leaders of Saanei's stature. They know they cannot touch him directly, yet, but the action serves as a warning for him to be still. It effectively says to him that if he speaks up they will hurt people close to him. It is a warning I doubt he will heed. You can see reference to the story here: NYTimes. Ayatollah Saanei has a website with English translations, and in addition I have highlighted him in diaries before. See here: Iran's Dissident Clerics.
Another item I came across was a pleasant little cartoon by Nikahang Kowsar. A dissident who now lives in Toronto and was at least partially responsible for giving hard-line Ayatollah Yazdi his nickname of "crocodile." Yazdi is reported to be a spiritual adviser to Ahmadinejad and his ideas about "Islamic Democracy" are non-existent. Think Hobbes' Leviathan, the justification for the Divine Right of Kings and your scariest "fire and brimstone" preacher rolled into one.
The last item I will leave you with is a piece written for CNN by Nader Hashemi about the late Ayatollah Montazeri. Professor Hashemi writes and teaches at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. His recent book Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy is a brilliant, ground-breaking and myth exploding piece of scholarship with almost as many pages of end notes and bibliography as text. I found his book after reading an article where Robert Fisk spoke glowingly about his work. You can see his website here: Nader Hashemi. In the CNN piece entitled "A life animated by conscience, not power" Hashemi briefly and effectively summarizes the life and difficult career of Hossein Ali Montazeri. It is a short piece that covers a great deal of material surrounding the complex and conflict-ridden environment in which Montazeri's remarkable life took its' course. Montazeri was a man of humble beginnings and remarkable achievements, both intellectual and political. However, his courage over the last twenty years marked him as a man of exceptional character; a man whose spirit and calm demeanor the people of Iran so desperately need. See the Nader Hashemi piece here: CNN--Nader Hashemi. Hopefully we will see more of this kind of work from Professor Hashemi--his perspective and analysis are sorely needed here in the US.
Still watching and hoping for a brighter future in Iran.