Extra: The Dissident Epistle That Disappeared

Editor's note: On October 14, the following letter, in Farsi, appeared on a website called Motghan, identified as the "Official Website of Modaresin & Tolab in Ghom and Najaf" (variously translatable as religious teachers and students, or clerics and seminarians, of Qom and Najaf). The letter, addressed to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, in anticipation of his much-publicized visit to the holy city of Qom, opens with a preamble addressed to the Iranian people.

While the letter was widely reported among independent and opposition websites in the Iranian diaspora, little is known of its source. Some Internet traffic analysis sites indicate that the Motghan server is located in North Carolina, though that may be a way station for material uploaded to the Internet from anywhere else in the world. Motghan claims a copyright dating back to 2005, but there is no direct evidence for any postings on the site predating 13 Mehr 1389 -- October 5, 2010. It is difficult to gather more evidence, because by October 19 -- the day Khamenei arrived in Qom -- the site had been disabled. The original letter itself has thus vanished. The few available Internet caches allow us to see that the site prominently featured links to the sites of leading pro-reformist and other dissident Iranian ayatollahs, several of which have themselves been disabled recently by the Islamic Republic of Iran regime.

This translation of the letter, by far the fullest to have appeared in English, was executed by Tehran Bureau staff. -- Dan Geist

An Open Letter of the Religious Teachers and Students of Qom and Najaf to Sayyed Ali Khamenei

You know that you are not the absolute religious jurist and in the affairs of the sharia law you are required to emulate the most learned of the jurists...

Honorable People of Iran:

With attention focused on the published reports and elevated security surrounding the holy city of Qom and Mr. Sayyed Ali Khamenei's highly anticipated arrival there with his inner circle, combined with his efforts to placate his opposition, confirm his spiritual authority, and secure legal justification for the appointment of his son Mojtaba Khamenei, all amidst the ongoing pressure from his opposition we publish this open letter, firstly to Mr. Ali Khamenei to remind him that all of the crimes took place under his watch and were a result of his direct order, and secondly to the religious scholars, religious jurists, spiritual leaders, religious teachers, and religious students of Qom to declare, "Whoever helps the aggressor carry out his oppression, God will place them under his will."

We would like to remind you that your meeting with Mr. Khamenei not only confirms and corroborates all these brutal crimes which the government perpetrated, but also that the denial of them coupled with hypocrisy in the face of all Islamic interpretations and affirmed Qu'ranic concepts will result in the ignominy of the oppressors on the Judgment Day, while the religious scholars, the saints and the virtuous opposition will both be made known and given refuge and sanctuary from the foes of God.

In concluding, we would like to remind you that we pray this letter will have an impact on the behavior of the Supreme Leader of Iran, and under his leadership he will apologize to the honorable people of Iran, and as their righteous leader, bestow upon them peace and prosperity.

In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful...

In the presence of the Supreme Leader of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the eminent Sayyed Ali Khamenei!

Peace Be Upon You.

We would like to remind you that we are not foreign agents and that we are gravely concerned about the national security of an independent Iran. Therefore it is desirous to try and avoid trite and hackneyed labels throughout this letter. It is important to mention that the purpose of this letter is only to perform a religious duty and obligation and it is stated that you demand what is right and forbid what is wrong. We also hope that the topics of this letter, which are absolutely consistent with Islamic jurisprudence, the sacrosanct religious laws found in the verses of the holy Qu'ran, and the honorable teachings of the exalted prophet of Islam and all of his inspirational descendants, will impact you and result in a shift in your eminence's unjustifiable behavior in the country's ongoing events, and in cooperation with the people, who are the real guardians of this government, assist them in their livelihood.

Your Eminence Sayyed Ali Khamenei!

Recent criticisms of your behavior, in conjunction with criticisms of your behavior before the tragic events connected with the election coup d'état of last year, as well as the limits of your governance throughout the last twenty-two years have come to the surface. Each day new documents emerge that disclose your role in the coup d'état and demonstrate that you were directly responsible for the crisis and the larger crime against the country of Iran, the honorable people of Iran, Islam, and inviolable Islamic law.

These criticisms were initiated after Friday prayers on 29 Khordad 1388 [June 19, 2009] when both your true appearance and proclivity for taking sides availed themselves during the people's protests of an engineered election rife with fraud and abuse. During those Friday Prayers, you railed against any address other than your own with a dictatorial tone, while both declaring that the blame for the bloodshed rested with the opponent's leaders and simultaneously ordering the suppression of the protestors. This address of yours was the basis for the shameful tragedy of 30 Khordad [June 20] and the widespread murder and arrest of protestors associated with it.