Sadr wants to be the Khomeini of Iraq: Ayat Montazeri

By: Mohamed Ali

WASHINGTON, United Stated: Iran’s Ayatullah Hussain Ali Montazeri during an interview with the Voice of America has condemned the actions of Moqtada As-Sadr in Iraq.

In a faxed response to VOA’s Persian Service, the Ayatullah charged that As-Sadr “wants to be the Khomeini of Iraq.”

Pouring scorn on Sadr’s religious authority, Ayatullah Montazeri said that he believes Sadr “apparently has had some help from Iran” which hoped to have a “hand” in Iraq through Sadr.

Montazeri, citing the common interests of religion, history and a shared border, believes that Iran should have peaceful relations with Iraq and work towards establishing peace there.

Speaking on Washington-Tehran relations, the Ayatullah Montazeri said the United States and Iran should establish relations while respecting each other’s sovereignty, adding that he believes that in an era of global political and economic cooperation, the absence of relations between these two countries works against both of them.

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