**Thousands of Iranians are converging on the city of Qom for the funeral of leading reformist cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri.**Opposition leaders have called for Monday to be a national day of mourning and reformist websites report an increased security presence in Qom.
Correspondents say the government could face a major challenge in how it deals with the funeral.
The grand ayatollah was one of Shia Islam’s most respected figures.
He was an architect of the 1979 revolution that created Iran’s Islamic state but later became a vocal critic of the government.
He died of natural causes in Qom on Saturday night at the age of 87.
‘Legend of endeavour’
The funeral is scheduled to start in the main shrine in Qom, 125km (78 miles) south of Tehran, at 0900 local time (0530 GMT).
DEFIANT CLERIC
- Born into provincial family in 1922 and educated at a seminary
- Arrested and tortured for leading protests against Iran monarchy
- Designated successor to Islamic Republic’s founder, Khomeini
- Fell out with Khomeini in 1989 over Iran’s human rights record
- House arrest in 1997 for criticising current Supreme Leader
- Issues a fatwa against President Ahmadinejad after 2009’s election
Analysis: Government’s challenge
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have been quoted on reformist websites as calling for a large turnout.
One website that backs Mr Mousavi, Kaleme, quoted them as saying: “We invite all saddened religious people mourning the death of this pride of the Shiite world to take part in the funeral of this legend of endeavour, jurisprudence and spirituality.”
The BBC’s Jon Leyne says the government will clearly fear a large turnout and asks whether its leaders can really be seen trying to prevent mourners marking the death of a grand ayatollah.
Doing so could risk a repeat of the street protests that followed Iran’s disputed presidential election in June.
On Sunday a large crowd of mourners quickly gathered outside the grand ayatollah’s home in Qom to pay respects.
Video footage on internet sites also showed hundreds of mourners on the streets of the grand ayatollah’s home town of Najafabad.
Sporadic gatherings were reported in Tehran and other cities.
One website, Jaras, said a student of the grand ayatollah, Ahmad Qabel, had been detained on his way to the funeral.
Foreign media have been restricted in Iran since the post-election protests and it is often difficult to verify reports. No foreign media will be allowed to attend the funeral.
The government has made no direct comment on the security situation.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did offer his condolences on Sunday, praising Grand Ayatollah Montazeri as an outstanding jurist.
However, the supreme leader tempered this with criticism, saying he hoped God would forgive the grand ayatollah for failing his “crucial test”.
This was a reference to Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s falling out with the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
State news agency Irna did not use the ayatollah title in its early reports of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s death and referred to him as the “clerical figure of rioters”.
The White House, however, praised the grand ayatollah, saying he was his “known and internationally respected for his unwavering commitment to universal rights”.
Fatwa
Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was one of the early backers of Ayatollah Khomeini and was designated to succeed him.
MONTAZERI BBC INTERVIEWS
- Exchanged e-mails detailing views on reform in Oct 2009
- Interviewed at his home in Qom in June 2008
- Click below to read details
But the pair fell out over Iran’s human rights record a few months before Ayatollah Khomeini died of cancer in 1989.
In 1997 he famously clashed with Ayatollah Khamenei, whom he outranked in the religious hierarchy, after questioning the powers of the supreme leader.
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri repeatedly accused the country’s rulers of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam and said the liberation that was supposed to have followed the 1979 revolution never happened.
Then, despite his old age and failing health, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri backed the opposition’s claims that the 2009 election result, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, had been widely rigged.
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri said Iran’s leadership was a dictatorship and issued a fatwa condemning the government.
He said the turmoil following the election “could lead to the fall of the regime”.
Iran’s authorities denied the rigging allegations and said the post-election protests were a foreign-backed plot to bring down the leadership.