Thousands of Iranians chanted, “Death to the dictator!” today during the funeral procession of popular moderate cleric Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri.
Al-Arabiya reported:
Thousands of Iranians chanted “down with the dictator” during the funeral procession for prominent religious figure and regime critic Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri in the city of Isfahan, signaling a rise of anti-government voices ahead of the upcoming June 14 presidential elections.
The mourners also chanted “shame on the dictator” and called for lifting house arrest on reformist and opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Mousavi.
Ayatollah Taheri was the Friday prayers speaker in Isfahan, the second biggest city in Iran, until his resignation in 2002 when he shocked the country’s governing religious establishment by condemning the regime and protesting the country’s political and economic situation.