Cleric had been in line to succeed supreme leader, fell from favor
(AP) - Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who emerged as the spiritual father of its reform movement, died in his sleep overnight. He was 87. Once slated to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Montazeri instead led the charge in accusing the country's ruling Islamic establishment of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam—criticism he kept up following June's disputed presidential election, making him a hero to the opposition. More»
