TEHRAN — Tens of thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets in Iran’s main theological center Monday and clashed with pro-government militiamen during the funeral of the country’s top dissident cleric, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.
The day’s demonstration was significant for both its important location and its merging of several currents within Iran’s population: It drew older supporters of Montazeri from cities and towns in the countryside as well as young middle-class urbanites from the capital.
Mourners in the city of Qom moved in a stream from Montazeri’s home to the shrine of Fatemeh Masoumeh, where the late cleric was laid to rest. They chanted anti-government slogans and carried green ribbons and banners signifying allegiance to the opposition movement that sprang out of disputed June presidential elections.
As the ceremony concluded, Montazeri’s son, Ahmad, asked mourners to disperse peacefully out of respect for the family. But there were a few reports of clashes between people in the crowd and at least some of the security forces that had flooded the city, 90 miles south of the capital.
According to reformist news websites, pro-government militiamen pulled down a funerary banner honoring Montazeri, who died Saturday at 87, and prevented his supporters from holding a smaller evening ceremony at a Qom mosque.
Hundreds of government supporters gathered near Montazeri’s home chanted slogans in support of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, according to news websites. Uniformed law enforcement had to intervene to prevent clashes between government supporters and mourners.
Official Iranian media gave limited coverage to the death and funeral of Montazeri, who helped lead the Islamic revolution three decades ago but later broke with its leaders. Authorities did not grant foreign media based in Tehran permission to travel to Qom for the ceremonies.
