Iraq should learn from the experience of Iran's Islamic revolution and not allow clerics to take a political role for which they are unqualified, Iran's leading dissident cleric said on Thursday. Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of the few Shia Muslim clerics to attain the rank of Grand Ayatollah, has long criticised Iran's ruling clergy for being too hard on the people and perverting a constitution he helped draft.
"I believe, considering Iran's experience, Iraqi clerics should not interfere in the country's state matters. This is not their field of expertise and should be dealt with by experts," he said in written replies to questions from Reuters.
Iraqis go to the polls on January 30 in an election which analysts tip the 60 percent Shia majority to win.
"It is better if clerics just supervise approved bills and make sure they are not contrary to Islam. In case of any contradiction, they should point it out in a very friendly way," he added, writing from his office in the seminary city of Qom.
Montazeri was hailed as "the fruit of my life" by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual father of the 1979 Islamic revolution, who designated him as his successor.
But he fell from grace in 1988 after openly criticising the revolutionary rulers and condemning the executions of political prisoners.
He was released from five years of house imprisonment in 2003 - a punishment handed down for criticing Khomeini's successor as Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran's political system is based on a theory called the "rule of the jurisprudent" developed by Khomeini, that says clerics should directly supervise political life.
However, Iraq's main Shia seminary city of Najaf has traditionally been associated with a separation between mosque and state. Iraq's top cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has been keen to avoid becoming a political leader.
Montazeri said the theological divide between the two Shia schools of thought could prove healthy.
"Of course it is possible for the Islamic communities of Najaf and Qom, or other Islamic communities, to have different views. This might be very useful and beneficiary as a clash and blend of different views will lead to development and perfection," he wrote.
Montazeri said it was the responsibility of the Shia majority, should it win the Iraqi poll, to look to the interests of minorities such as Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Christians.
"Religious minorities and those who are not believers of a specific religion also have civil rights which should be respected. The Koran says: 'There is no compulsion in religion'."
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