Dissident clerics rebuke Iran's Supreme Leader

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei

A group of dissident Iranian clerics, the Clerics and Seminarians of Qom and Najaf (Motghan), issued an open letter at the threshold of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei's trip to Qom and warned the community of clerics that meeting with the leader is akin to approving the crimes and contradicting Islamic principles.

Motghan website reports that in the wake of the leader’s trip, Qom is hovering under strict security measures and they hope that their letter would affect the Supreme Leader and lead him to repent from his sins against the people.

The clerics and seminarians of Qom and Najaf anticipating possible accusation from the government, stress that they are not “foreign elements” and are “deeply concerned about Iran’s national security and independence.”

The letter repeats the allegations of vote fraud in the 2009 presidential elections and maintains that based on new evidence surfacing everyday regarding the elections, the Supreme Leader is “directly responsible for this crime and great betrayal.”

They also condemn the treatment of political detainees in the aftermath of the election protests.

The dissident clerics accuse the Islamic Republic of using policies that have discredited the clergy amongst the people and urge the establishment and the Supreme Leader to reconsider their ways.