Montazeri funeral protest

TENS of thousands of mourners turned the funeral of Iran’s leading dissident cleric into an anti-government protest yesterday.

As the crowds chanted “death to the dictator”, security forces clamped down in the holy city of Qom where massive crowds streamed in for the funeral rites.

One opposition website reported clashes outside the home of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who died yesterday aged 87.