OxBlog

Saturday, February 01, 2003

# Posted 10:34 AM by Ariel David Adesnik  

AYATOLLAH YOU SO: Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, the premier critic of Iranian theocracy, has emerged from house arrest and returned to the political stage. He has already said that, "Chanting death to this and that is not the way to run a country. We have lost our prestige in the world. We are constantly falling behind."

In a direct challenge to Islamic authorities, Montazeri declared that "Ayatollah Khamenei was 'not infallible' and could be challenged by Parliament." Montazeri was once Ayatollah Khomeini's heir apparent, but had a falling out with him. As befits a close ally of Khomeini, he was firmly anti-American. How much of that sentiment remains is unknown. Regardless, Montazeri is a force for democracy.

For more background on Montazeri, see Pejman's Tech Central Station column from December. Pejman's post on the State of the Union has also led me to wonder whether Bush's firm support for Iranian democracy had something to do with Montazeri's release from house arrest.
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