Mahdi Khazali: My Father Opposed Ayatollah Khamenei's Authority and Resigned Under Pressure from the Leadership Office

Mahdi Khazali, son of Ayatollah Abolghasem Khazali, states that his father opposed the declaration of Ayatollah Khamenei's authority by the Qom Teachers' Society in 1994 and did not accept his authority. Ayatollah Khazali was a member of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council. In a video released on the anniversary of Abolghasem Khazali's death, Mahdi Khazali mentioned that after his father opposed Ayatollah Khamenei's authority, he was pressured by a senior official from the office of the Supreme Leader to resign from the Guardian Council. In an interview with Radio Farda, Mahdi Khazali elaborated on his father's opposition to the current Supreme Leader's authority. He stated that his father expressed this opposition in numerous meetings, believing that, as stated in all existing practical treatises, the condition for imitation is being the most knowledgeable, which he did not attribute to the Supreme Leader. He recounted an incident during a meeting of the Jurisprudential Council at the Supreme Leader's residence, where his father objected to a statement made by Mr. Jannati regarding issuing a fatwa, asserting that the Supreme Leader was not in a position to issue fatwas. Mahdi Khazali described how his father was invited to speak at the Ministry of Intelligence and advised him not to discuss the issue of authority there. After the speech, when asked about his opinion on authority, his father stated he did not want to engage in that discussion. However, he later told his aides that he advised his children to follow Ayatollah Sistani instead of the Supreme Leader. His father warned against playing with Shiite authority, stating that it would weaken the Supreme Leader's position. Eventually, after discussions among the clerical community, his father bravely spoke out against playing with Shiite authority, insisting that the most knowledgeable should become the authority. Following a vote, Ayatollah Khamenei was introduced as a reference by some members. Afterward, Ayatollah Khazali went to Tehran to inform the Supreme Leader that this was a mistake and urged him not to accept it. He was later pressured to resign or face dismissal, which he chose to do, citing old age as the reason in his resignation letter, despite being active for many years afterward. Mahdi Khazali emphasized that his father's refusal to accept the authority was not contrary to his support for the Supreme Leader, as he believed in defending the system but maintained that authority and imitation should only come from the most knowledgeable.