Ayatollah Taheri Resigns from Friday Prayer Leadership and Representative of the Supreme Leader in Isfahan

A prominent Iranian cleric has resigned from his position as Friday prayer leader in protest against what he has called widespread corruption at all levels of the country's religious power structure. Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri submitted his resignation in a letter dated July 7, which was published in reformist newspapers in Iran. The Associated Press has obtained the handwritten letter from Ayatollah Taheri. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) did not publish the text of the letter. Ayatollah Taheri, who has held the position since the 1979 revolution, has accused the hardline clerics in the Iranian government of paralyzing civil and elective institutions in the name of religion. He has also expressed disgust over the illegal imprisonment of dissenting writers and what he termed the unacceptable slaughter of reformist press. In his resignation letter, he expressed support for Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a dissident cleric who has been under house arrest for the past 13 years. Ayatollah Taheri, who has resided in Isfahan for the past 30 years, cites several reasons for his dissatisfaction, including the government's incompetence and its deceitfulness. The Associated Press reported, citing Davood Hermidas Bavand, a political analyst and professor at Tehran University, that this resignation reflects the growing dissatisfaction of Iranians with the clerical ruling system.