One of Iran's most prominent dissident clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, has died aged 87.Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran's Islamic state. One of Shia Islam's most respected figures, he was also a leading critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri issued a fatwa condemning President Ahmadinejad's government after June's disputed election.
Despite his old age and failing health, Hoseyn Ali Montazeri backed the opposition's claims that the 2009 election result, which gave President Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, had been widely rigged.
During his lifetime, the cleric was transformed from a pillar of the Islamic revolution to one of the most vocal critics of its leadership.