Ahmad Montazeri: Ahmad Khomeini Sought to Undermine My Father to Become Leader

The son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri accused Ahmad Khomeini in an interview of planning since 1980 to eliminate Ayatollah Montazeri and aimed to become the leader of the Islamic Republic. However, the death of Ayatollah Khomeini occurred 'sooner than he expected, and their plan did not progress.' Ahmad Khomeini, the second son of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, passed away at the age of 49 due to illness. In an interview with the Zeytoon website published on Wednesday, February 14, Ahmad Montazeri stated that Ahmad Khomeini intended to remove Ayatollah Montazeri and 'with the information he provided to Ayatollah Khomeini, he caused him to take this position.' He emphasized that Ahmad Khomeini had 'plans for his leadership,' but the death of Ayatollah Khomeini occurred 'earlier than he imagined, and their plan did not advance.' Ahmad Montazeri referred to what he called Ahmad Khomeini's 'unwarranted interference' in 'the office of Ayatollah Montazeri' from the early years after the 1979 revolution, stating that 'he was seeking to eliminate' the deputy leader of the Islamic Republic from that time. According to Mr. Montazeri, Ahmad Khomeini wrote a letter to Ayatollah Montazeri in the early years after the 1979 revolution, stating, 'When the Imam is alive, why are you forming an office? What do you need an office for?' In the letter mentioned by Ahmad Montazeri, written in 1980, Ahmad Khomeini addressed Ayatollah Montazeri, saying, 'One cannot become a leader and a source of emulation by force.' He also protested against the broadcasting of news about Ayatollah Montazeri's meetings on television and radio, as well as the slogans supporting him at official ceremonies. Ahmad Montazeri's statements come shortly after the release of videos from the Assembly of Experts meeting, following the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and the election of Ayatollah Khamenei as his successor, which has received widespread attention. In this session, a vote was also held to accept Ayatollah Montazeri's resignation from the position of deputy leader, while Ayatollah Khomeini had previously agreed to this resignation. Some analysts have considered the Assembly of Experts' approval of Ayatollah Montazeri's resignation as a sign of the illegality of Ayatollah Khomeini's agreement to the resignation of the deputy leader. In this context, Mohsen Kadivar, a cleric and religious researcher, wrote on his website that 'the ninety-second vote under the artificial title of accepting his resignation from leadership at the beginning of the session dated June 4, 1989, displays an unethical image of most members of the Assembly of Experts. The video file of this session is a document of the disgrace of the ruling clerics to the extent that it raises the question: gentlemen, how much is religion worth?' Meanwhile, Ahmad Montazeri stated that Ahmad Khomeini was also among the candidates for the leadership of the Islamic Republic. He added, 'After the election of Ayatollah Khamenei as the leader, Ayatollah Montazeri said that the best of the available options was chosen; and he was happy that other figures who were mentioned, including Ayatollah Golpaygani, who was not a political figure at all, or Ahmad Khomeini, were not selected.' The removal of Ayatollah Montazeri from the position of deputy leader followed his disagreements with Ayatollah Khomeini over issues such as the case of Mehdi Hashemi, the brother-in-law of Ayatollah Montazeri, and the execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. In a letter in April 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini agreed to Ayatollah Montazeri's resignation from the deputy leadership. This agreement came while Ayatollah Montazeri had been elected to this position by the Assembly of Experts, not by Ruhollah Khomeini. At the same time, according to Ahmad Montazeri, a month and a half before Ayatollah Montazeri's resignation, 'on February 11, 1988, when celebrations were held at Iranian embassies in foreign countries, some foreign officials were aware that Ayatollah Montazeri was to be dismissed.' He also mentioned that he had asked his father not to write letters requesting a halt to the executions of political prisoners in 1988 and to express his views verbally to the Islamic Republic officials, but Ayatollah Montazeri responded, 'Everything is over... the blood that has been unjustly shed destroys everything.' One of the points of contention between Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Khomeini was the case of Mehdi Hashemi, Ayatollah Montazeri's brother-in-law. Mehdi Hashemi was executed in October 1988 on charges of 'moharebeh' (waging war against God). One of the accusations against Mehdi Hashemi was issuing a death order for Ayatollah Shamsabadi, a cleric from Isfahan during the Shah's regime. Meanwhile, Ahmad Montazeri stated in this interview that this murder occurred after Ayatollah Khomeini's remarks about dealing with clerics who opposed the revolution against the Shah's regime, and he is not sure that Mehdi Hashemi issued the order for the murder. Before the murder of Ayatollah Shamsabadi, Ayatollah Khomeini had said in remarks against clerics who did not support his movement against the Shah's government: 'Our youth should take the turbans off these people... Why don't they take the turbans off? I am not saying to kill them; they are not worth killing, but they should take their turbans off... It is not necessary to beat them too much, but they should take their turbans off.' Ahmad Montazeri also accused Ayatollah Khomeini and Ahmad Khomeini of illegal interference in the case of Mehdi Hashemi. According to Mr. Montazeri, Mohammad Sadegh Salehi Manesh, the governor of Qom in Hassan Rouhani's government, who was close to Ayatollah Khomeini, said in this regard: 'After the arrest of Seyyed Mehdi Hashemi in Jamaran, we were in a meeting where Ahmad Khomeini came in and said if we want to execute this Seyyed (Mehdi Hashemi, Ayatollah Montazeri's brother-in-law), who is willing to issue the verdict? Mr. Razini said, I am. The next day, the radio announced that by a decree from Imam Khomeini, Mr. Razini was appointed as the Sharia judge of the Special Clerical Court.' Ali Razini was the head of the court that sentenced Mehdi Hashemi to death. Last year, an audio file belonging to Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the dismissed deputy of Ayatollah Khomeini, related to August 15, 1988, was released, in which Ayatollah Montazeri referred to the executions of 1988 in Iran as 'the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic.' Following the release of this audio file, Ahmad Montazeri was sentenced to 21 years in prison, of which 6 years were served. Mr. Montazeri was arrested on Wednesday, February 23, 2017, without a 'formal summons' and after being summoned to the Special Clerical Court in Qom, and was released the next day under the title of 'eight-day leave.' He returned to the Special Clerical Court in Qom on Saturday morning, March 5, 2017, at the end of his leave, as previously arranged, where he was told that his prison sentence had been suspended.