Robert Worth of the New York Times provides timely coverage of the funeral for Grand Ayatollah Montazeri in Qom today.
There was something almost mystical about the timing of his death. He died in the first days of Muharram, the mourning month of the Shia religious calendar (see blog item “Will Iran Ignite” below), and only hours from the winter solstice. The seventh day marking of his death, an important date in Shia Islam, will fall on Ashura, the holiest day of the year.
The Green opposition was expected to take advantage of this period to return to the streets, and Montazeri’s death provides an additional incentive. He was the most revered figure in the Iranian religious establishment, a close companion of Khomeini, and a founder of the Islamic Republic who became its most outspoken critic as it transformed itself into a military dictatorship.
His death and instant martyrdom creates a dilemma for the self-proclaimed Islamic regime. It will be difficult to justify massive repression of individuals who are marching in the name of an icon of Iranian Islam during the holiest days of the year.
It is possible that Ayatollah Montazeri will prove to be a more influential figure in death than he was in life.
