LONDON, Britain: The BBC's Sadeq Saba visited the Iranian holy city of Qom to meet different Ayaat. Besides other Ayaat, Saba met with Ayatollah Sayed Sadeq Rouhani, head of Qom Hoza.

Saba says: “He greeted me warmly at his house. Although in his mid-80s he looked remarkably healthy and energetic. Senior clerics in Iran seem to live long lives. He sat in his chair as I sat on the floor next to him. He was very proud of his writings on Islamic theology and his library of thousands of books arrayed on the bookshelves behind him.”

In his opinion, Ayatollah Rouhani said, the supreme religious leader of an Islamic state should not be selected by an assembly of other clerics, but rather chosen by divine powers.

Saba further said: “Ayatollah Rouhani told me that over the past years, Iran's supreme leader has repeatedly tried to meet him but he has always refused.”