Commemoration services for Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, a reformist cleric who passed away last week, have been cancelled in Tehran and Qom.
The Kaleme website reports that it was decided to cancel the ceremonies after a conflict during the burial of the deceased resulted in “injuries caused to innocent people.” Therefore, the service will only take place in Najafabad.
The announcement says the cleric stated in his will that he would like his funeral to be held in complete peace, and any form of harm to citizens and young people is to be avoided.
In recent years, the passing of prominent figures critical of the government has been used as an outlet for dissenting forces. Government forces have often restricted participation in these events and at times has not even allowed any form of public burial ceremony to take place in order to avoid public gatherings.
Ayatollah Taheri Esfahani was critical of the government persecution of election protesters in 2009 and had publicly announced that he believed the elections were fraudulent.
The government is on guard to ensure the coming presidential election does not spark any form of protest movement as happened after the last election.
