The Chairman of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, Kazem Mousavi Boroujerdi, has written to Iran’s Supreme Leader to ask his opinion on the controversy that has brewed over American Iran scholar Richard Frye and his last wish to be buried in Isfahan.
The Chairman of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, who was charged by Frye prior to his death to carry out his last wishes, writes to Ayatollah Khamenei that he has already written to the president, the foreign minister and the Isfahan governor but has so far not received any “direct responses” to his query.
Frye passed away in March at the age of 94 and prior to his death he had expressed the wish to be buried in Isfahan. However, hardliners in Iran have shown fierce opposition to his burial in Iran and are alleging that he was a CIA spy.
Isfahan representatives have warned that if the government approved Frye’s burial in Isfahan, they would not be able to control the negative public reaction.
The Mausoleum of Arthur Pope, another American Iran scholar and a Frye mentor, is located on Khajoo Bridge in the Centre of Isfahan and it has already become a target of vandalism over the recent controversies.
The Persian BBC reports that former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his time in office had promised Frye that he could be buried in Isfahan.
