Office of late Iranian dissident cleric sealed in Qom

Office of Ayatollah Montazeri in Qom

The office of the late Ayatollah Montazeri in Qom was sealed this morning by Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

Ahmad Montazeri, the reformist cleric’s son posted an announcement on Ayatollah Montazeri’s official website to confirm this news.

According to the statement, 15 ministry officials carrying a warrant from the Special Court for the Clergy searched the premises and after confiscating some items sealed the office entrance.

Last night the office was also attacked by a number of pro-government forces. Ayatollah Montazeri, who was one of the most outspoken critics of the Islamic Republic government, passed away last December and his funeral was carried under strict security measures,

The plain clothes forces, which Jaras reformist websites describes as “Basij, Hezbollah and Ansar forces” swarmed the offices of Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Sanei yesterday in protest to the presence of the opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi who has been visiting at Qom since yesterday.

These pro-government forces attacked the offices of the two dissident clerics at 4 am this morning. According to Ahmad Montazeri, they broke the windows and the office furniture while tearing the curtains and vandalizing the office.

Reportedly security forces were also present at the time of the attack.

The crowd chanted slogans against Mehdi Karroubi, MirHosein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and in support of Ayatollah Khamenei.

The attackers of Ayatollah Sanei’s residence, insulted the Shiite leader and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In a video taken from the crowd surrounding Ayatollah Sanei’s Residence, the speaker of the plain clothes forces threatens Hassan Khomeini that from September, he would not be allowed to teach at the Qom Seminary School.

He warned the Intelligence and security forces saying: “We will not allow it; we will do our job; the guys from Intelligence, security and military forces should know and not say something tomorrow. We expect that in September we don’t have to deal with the presence of this indecent son of Haj Ahmad Khomeini (son of Ayatollah Khoemeini) in Qom.”

He also threatened Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the Chairman of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts saying: “Mr. Hashemi has to return to the right path, otherwise we will get rid of him easily.”

Mehdi Karroubi, who is on a visit in Qom, was also attacked yesterday by the plain clothes pro-government forces.