(Economist-UK) Social media reflect growing anger at Iran's ruling clerics, who preside over a shrinking economy. Inflation is near 40%, wages are falling, and basics such as chicken and clothes are becoming luxuries. Even clerics in the Shia holy city of Qom are increasingly questioning the system of clerical rule. A growing number look to Iraq's holy city of Najaf for a different model of mosque-state relations. Since the return of relative calm to Iraq, Najaf's prestige among Shias has soared. Its shrine of Imam Ali, founder of the Shia sect, attracts millions of pilgrims a year. It is the seat of the most popular Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 88, who champions the separation of mosque and state. Clerics should advise, he says, not rule.
2019-05-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive