Vancouver Secrets

The Mad Mullah Is Dead

TEHRAN, Iran — Grandson of Iran’s senior dissident cleric says Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri is dead.

The BBC pays Homage: One of Iran’s most prominent dissident clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, has died aged 87.

“Hoseyn Ali Montazeri passed away in his home last night,” state-owned Irna news agency said.

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.

Grand Ayatollah Montazeri issued a fatwa condemning President Ahmadinejad’s government after June’s disputed election.

Too bad it was one of the dissident ones. He was the only sane one standing between Ahmadinejad and his nukes.