July 13, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1423

TEHRAN, July 12: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed two successors on Friday to occupy the position of a cleric who resigned after protesting the repressive nature of Iranian politics.

Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, who resigned as Friday prayers leader of the city of Isfahan on Tuesday, accused the hardline Iranian judiciary of being a “mafia” that stifled reform moves and contributed to the country’s brain drain.

Khamenei appointed the two clerics Ali Qazi-Asgar and Mohammad- Taqi Rahbar as successors to the highly popular Taheri.

Khamenei sounded a conciliatory note on Friday towards Taheri who hit out at alleged injustice going to the very heart of the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri listed “deception, unemployment, inflation, the diabolical gap between the rich and poor, bribery, cheating, growing drug consumption, the incompetence of authorities and the failure of the political structure” of the regime as his reasons for stepping down.

Khamenei’s comments come after the powerful Supreme National Security Council moved to smother the row over the resignation of Isfahan on Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri by banning newspaper comment on the issue.

Khamenei, who controls the key elements of power in Iran, said he appreciated Taheri’s criticism of raging economic corruption in the country.

“I am so glad that you, as a person with a revolutionary background, are thinking about these issues,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Khamenei as saying in a letter to Taheri.

“These are facts which I personally in recent years, either in my speeches or during meetings with officials have mentioned, warned about and called for mobilising all resources, to fight against poverty, corruption, and discrimination.”

Taheri, 76, who is a former associate of Khomeini, had raised the fate of Montazeri, who has been under house arrest in the holy city of Qom, in his resignation letter.

Taheri’s bombshell coincided with the anniversary of the July 1999 student unrest, which saw thousands of people defy a government ban on Tuesday and take to the streets of Tehran and other cities.

The demonstrations took an anti-government turn, ending in clashes and the arrest of more than 200 people.

Unlike most current prayer leaders who were appointed by Khamenei, Taheri owed his job to the charismatic founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Taheri was the only big-city prayer leader to back President Mohammad Khatami’s drive for reforms which have been largely blocked by powerful conservative state bodies, most of whose members are appointed either directly or indirectly by Khamenei.

His resignation letter listed a litany of alleged abuses, accusing the clerical elite of using their position of power to line their pockets and suppress opponents.

Some 125 parliamentarians and the major reformist parties all issued statements in support of Taheri. Khamenei however warned in his letter that Taheri’s comments could be misused by Iran’s enemies.

“I can forgive oppression which has been committed against me, but...an oppression committed against the nation and trying to weaken the pillars of the system, is unforgivable,” Khamenai said.

Meanwhile, thousands rallied in support of Khamenei after he appealed for calm on Friday in a bid to defuse unprecedented political tension in the country.—dpa/Reuters