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Ayatollahs Desert Iran's Besieged Regime
(The Australian) Nir Boms and Shayan Arya - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini's successor, Ali Khamenei, never enjoyed the religious and moral authority of his predecessor. Khamenei, a mid-level cleric who had never completed the equivalent of a PhD for Shia religious students, ascended to the rank of grand ayatollah within three months of the death of Khomeini. He began his career by putting his rival, grand ayatollah Hosein Ali Montazeri, under house arrest. Montazeri, once designated as the successor to Khomeini, became Khamenei's most vocal opponent. Last month, grand ayatollah Javadi Amoli, who performs Friday prayers in Qom, announced his resignation, expressing his frustration with the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Reza Ostadi, a Friday prayer leader in Qom, condemned the "extremism in support of the Supreme Leader" in a recent sermon. In response, one of President Ahmadinejad's aides launched a verbal attack on Ostadi. However, no less than 19 top members of Qom seminaries issued an open letter in support of their colleague. Last June, a video clip of Grand Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Dastghaib, the most senior religious figure in Fars, appeared on YouTube. In it, he openly called the Supreme Leader an apostate who should be removed from God's mercy. In another YouTube clip, Ayatollah Shirazi called Khamenei "worse than Yazid," referring to a historical figure who is the embodiment of Satan for Shi'ites. It is becoming increasingly evident that the moral authority of the Supreme Leader is fading. Nir Boms is vice-president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East. Shayan Arya is an Iranian activist and a member of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran.