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| Axis of Evil |
| Prominent cleric resigns over 'chaos' |
| 2002-07-10 |
| Prominent cleric and prayer leader of Isfahan, Jalaledine Taheri, has resigned over the "chaotic situation" in the country, the reformist Nourooz paper reported Wednesday. Ayatollah Taheri, who said he cannot "tolerate the chaos any more" and the "generalised corruption at all levels" of religious power in Iran, also expressed his support for dissident cleric Hossein Ali Montazeri, the disgraced former successor of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini. The cleric, whose letter was published in Wednesday's reformist press, justified his resignation by listing "deception, unemployment, inflation, the daily rising of prices, the diabolic gap between the rich and poor, bribery, the cheating, the growing drug consumption, the incompetence of authorities and the failure of the political structure" of the regime as the reason for stepping down. Other than that, things are fine. Taheri's actually been chased off the podium by hard-liner bully boys... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 I think it's a real good sign that he ranted. And what I was referring to wasn't that he was being chased out of office by the bully boys, but that on previous occasions they have attacked the lectern with sticks and steel pipes, and literally caused him to take to his heels. I don't think Iran's going to come around in the next couple weeks -- the demonstrations these demonstrations were commemorating were larger. But it takes more than one swing of the axe to chop down a tree, and Taheri and yesterday's demonstration were two swings in two days. And I think that when the theocracy collapses it's going to take about as long as it took the Taliban to get out of town. I'm already dusting off my look of stunned surprise... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-07-10 14:43:05 |
| #1 You may well be right that he's been chased off. I still see it as a good sign that he did that rant (even if the mainstream press there didn't print it). That will get around. I don't expect a revolution next week or even this year, but I also wouldn't be very surprised if things went past the tipping point faster than I expect them to. [That last disclaimer was just to cover me rear in case it does happen next week. ;) ] |
| Posted by: Kat 2002-07-10 14:15:00 |