Support of Parliament Representatives for Ayatollah Taheri - 2002-07-12

More than 100 representatives of the Iranian Parliament expressed their support for a senior cleric who resigned from his position in protest against the management of the country by religious extremists. Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri resigned from his duties as the Imam of Friday prayers in Isfahan during the last hours of the past Tuesday, coinciding with the third anniversary of widespread student unrest across the country. In his resignation letter, written in complete anger, Ayatollah Taheri accused the conservative clerics of the Islamic Republic of Iran of paralyzing civil institutions and elected representatives in the name of religion. He also condemned what he termed the illegal imprisonment of reformist writers and the house arrest of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a prominent opposition cleric. On Thursday, 125 Iranian lawmakers signed a letter expressing their empathy for Ayatollah Taheri and hoping that the people would listen to him. The Islamic Participation Front, considered the major reformist party in Iran, stated that Ayatollah Taheri's views reflect the beliefs of millions of Iranians. Several Iranian newspapers published reactions to Ayatollah Taheri's resignation letter despite a directive from the Supreme National Security Council of Iran prohibiting the publication of articles in favor of or against clerics. Ayatollah Taheri is the first cleric to publicly resign in such a critical manner 23 years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Currently, reformists in Iran hold control of the Parliament and the presidency. However, control of the judiciary, armed forces, radio and television, and powerful state institutions capable of vetoing parliamentary decisions remains in the hands of extremist clerics. The conservative judiciary of Iran has consistently thwarted efforts for political and social reforms within the Islamic government.