Hussein-Ali Montazeri Najafabadi (24 September 1922 – 19 December 2009) was an Iranian cleric, politician, theologian, writer, human rights activist and democracy advocate who served as the only deputy supreme leader of Iran from 1985 to 1989. A Grand Ayatollah and reformist, he was one of the major leaders of the Iranian Revolution, the spiritual leader of the Iranian Green Movement, and one of the highest-ranking authorities in Shia Islam.
Born in Najafabad to a poor family, he began his religious education at Isfahan Seminary and began studying the Quran and Arabic from a young age. He opposed the White Revolution and supported anti-Shah leaders, more notably Ruhollah Khomeini. After Khomeini's exile in 1964, Montazeri "sat at the center of the clerical network", which Khomeini had established to oppose the Shah's rule.Hiro, Dikip, The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict, Routledge Chapman and Hall, 1991, p. 151. After gaining popularity in the late 1960's, the SAVAK arrested him and he was sent to Evin Prison in 1974 but was released amid the Iranian Revolution in 1978. After the Shah's fall, he served major positions such as the Speaker of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution in 1979 and rose the ranks to then being elected deputy supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts in 1985.
Montazeri was once designated by Ruhollah Khomeini as the successor to the supreme leadership; however, they had a falling-out in 1989 over Montazeri strongly opposing the 1988 mass execution of political prisonerss, arguing that the executions were incompatible with Islamic principles. Khomieni formally dismissed him as his successor in 1989, declaring that he had come to regret his appointment. Montazeri spent his later years in Qom and remained politically influential in Iran but was placed under house arrest in 1997 for questioning "the unaccountable rule exercised by the supreme leader", Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Ruhollah Khomeini. He was known as the most knowledgeable senior Islamic scholar in Iran, a grand marja (religious authority) of Shia Islam, and was said to be one of Khamenei's teachers.
For more than two decades, Montazeri was one of the main critics of the Islamic Republic's domestic and foreign policy. He had also been an active advocate of Baháʼí Faith rights, civil rights, and women's rights in Iran. Montazeri was a prolific writer of books and articles. He was a staunch proponent of an Islamic state, and he argued that post-revolutionary Iran was not being ruled as an Islamic state. His death and funeral in December 2009 was said to have marked "a new phase" in the presidential election protests due to his support for the Green Movement, led by former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Early life and public career Born in 1922, Montazeri was from a peasant family in Najafabad, a city in Isfahan Province, 400 kilometers south of Tehran. His early theological education was at Isfahan Seminary. After Khomeini was forced into exile by the Shah, Montazeri "sat at the center of the clerical network", which Khomeini had established to oppose Pahlavi rule.Hiro, Dikip, The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict, Routledge Chapman and Hall, 1991, p. 151.
He became a teacher at the Faiziyeh Theological School. While there he answered Khomeini's call to protest the White Revolution of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in June 1963 and was active in anti-Shah clerical circles.Hiro, Dikip, The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict, Routledge Chapman and Hall, 1991, p. 151. In late 1960s, Montazeri gained influence and popularity in Isfahan Province after his speeches criticizing the Shah, moving SAVAK to banish and subsequently imprison him. He was sent to prison in 1974 and released in 1978 in time to be active during the revolution. Montazeri then went to Qom where he studied theology.
Iranian Revolution (1979–1985)
Montazeri was known as an Islamic jurist who was made to pay for his liberal-leaning beliefs. He supported a democratic republic as the best form of government; however in his ideal model for government, an Islamic jurist acts as a supervisor and advisor, what he, along with Ayatollah Khomeini, termed as velayat-e faqih. He was the author of Dirasāt fī wilāyah al-faqīh, a scholarly book advocating the supervision of the administration by Islamic jurists. He believed in the independence of the government and did not accept any executive and policy making role for the Islamic jurist. Montazeri asserted that the rule of the jurisprudent should not be an absolute rule; instead, it should be limited to the function of advisor to the rulers, who are elected by the people.
In 1979, following the overthrow of the Shah, he played a pivotal role in instituting Iran's new constitution. He was one of the leaders of the movement to replace the democratic and secular draft constitution proposed for the Islamic Republic with one where the supervision of Islamic jurists was recognized. He distributed "a detailed commentary and alternate draft" for Iran's new constitution. It included proposals to specify that Twelver Shi'ism—and not Islam in general—was the official religion of the state and to state that Islamic jurists should appoint judges with the right of veto over all laws and actions that are against the Islamic principles. Later he served on the Assembly of Experts (Majles-e-Khobregan) that wrote the constitution and that implemented many of his proposals.
During this time, Montazeri also served as Friday prayer leader of Qom, as a member of the Revolutionary Council and as deputy to Supreme Leader Khomeini. Khomeini began "to transfer some of his power" to Montazeri, in 1980. By 1983 "all government offices hung a small picture" of Montazeri next to that of Khomeini. In 1984, Montazeri became a grand ayatollah.
Deputy Supreme Leader of Iran (1985–1989) Montazeri initially rejected Khomeini's proposal to make him his successor, insisting that the choice of successor be left to the democratically elected Assembly of Experts. Later, Montazeri relented, and following a session of the Assembly of Experts on 23 November 1985, he was officially appointed Khomeini's successor as Supreme Leader.NYT, 24 November 1985, p. 10.
Some observers believe Khomeini chose him for this role solely because of his support for Khomeini's principle of theocratic rule by Islamic jurists. Khomeini's proposed form of administration called for the most learned, or one of the most learned, Islamic jurists to "rule", and of all those who might be considered a leading Islamic jurist, only Montazeri supported theocracy. In Montazeri's opinion, however the jurist would not act as an absolute ruler, instead, he would act as an advisor and consultant.
Montazeri fell short of the theological requirements of the supreme Faqih. He could not claim descent from the Prophet nor did he possess all the credentials of a revered scholar of Islamic law. His religious followers were few. And he lacked the all-important charisma. His selection had happened for one reason—he was the only one among the candidates for Faqih who totally endorsed Khomeini's vision of Islamic government.
In addition, traditionalists did not approve Montazeri's designation as successor due to several reasons, including his problematic persona in Shiite seminaries during the reign of the Shah and his support for Ali Shariati’s and for Nematollah Salehi Najaf Abadi's works. Montazeri's leadership qualifications were further hurt by not being a seyyed, or descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, traditionally wearing the black turban in Shiite Islam, like Khomeini and Khomeini's successor Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Profile - Montazeri: Architect and critic of modern Iran Reuters, 21 December 2009 In the early years of the revolution, he was not as popular as he was in the last two decades of his life. The middle class and elites would mock him in those early years.
After his appointment, Montazeri considered himself increasingly responsible for state policy and identified education, liberation movements, and the judicial system, particularly the treatment of political prisoners, as crucial to the viability of a just Islamic community. His concern with justice and the plight of disadvantaged people contributed to his popularity among lower- and lower-middle-class Iranians.
Dispute with Khomeini and house arrest
Montazeri was one of Ruhollah Khomeini's closest pupils and was designated as his successor in 1985. Khomeini reportedly regarded him as the "fruit of his life", while Montazeri admired Khomeini's determination and religious commitment.
Relations between the two men deteriorated during the second half of the 1980s. According to Mehdi Karroubi, tensions intensified in 1986 after Montazeri sent Khomeini a letter questioning aspects of the Islamic Republic's political system. Montazeri's association with Mehdi Hashemi, who operated from his office in Qom, also became a source of tension. Hashemi was arrested, convicted of counterrevolutionary activities, and executed in September 1987.
Montazeri subsequently became increasingly critical of aspects of the government's domestic and foreign policies. In November 1987, he called for political parties to be legalized under government regulation and advocated an open examination of the Revolution's failures. He also argued that Iran should promote the Revolution by example rather than by supporting armed movements abroad. Khomeini responded by publicly criticizing Montazeri and, in early 1988, called for a meeting of the Assembly of Experts to discuss his position.
The decisive rupture followed the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners. Montazeri strongly opposed the executions and sent several letters to Khomeini protesting them. In one letter, he argued that the executions were being carried out without adequate judicial procedures and warned that the execution of thousands of prisoners in a short period would have serious consequences for the Islamic Republic. He also sent representatives to prisons where prisoners were being held and personally confronted members of the judicial commission responsible for the executions.Moin, p. 279.
Montazeri also criticized Khomeini's fatwa ordering the assassination of author Salman Rushdie saying: "People in the world are getting the idea that our business in Iran is just murdering people."
Following Montazeri's criticism of the mass purge of political prisoners, Khomeini wrote to Montazeri on 26 March 1989 informing him that he was no longer considered eligible to succeed him as leader of the state. In the letter, Khomeini accused Montazeri of having been influenced by liberals. Montazeri replied on 27 March, stating that he was not prepared to assume the position and asking to return to the seminary. While Montazeri's resignation letter was seemingly forced, Khomeini acknowledged the letter on 28 March and thanked Montazeri for his resigning.
Articles and editorials then appeared in various newspapers aimed at "dismantling" Montazeri's "impeccable" revolutionary credentials. References to him were removed from state media, publication of his lectures in Kayhan was discontinued, his portraits were removed from government offices and mosques, and his security detail was withdrawn.Moin, pp. 290–291. He subsequently became an outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic's political system. After Khomeini's death in June 1989, Montazeri was not involved in the selection of his successor, and Ali Khamenei was chosen as Supreme Leader after the constitutional requirement that the leader be a marja was removed.Moin, p. 293.
Post-deputy leadership (1989–2009)