Via Al Arabiya:

Thousands of Iranians chanted “down with the dictator” during the funeral procession for prominent religious figure and regime critic Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri in the city of Isfahan, signaling a rise of anti-government voices ahead of the upcoming June 14 presidential elections.

The mourners also chanted “shame on the dictator” and called for lifting house arrest on reformist and opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Mousavi.

Ayatollah Taheri was the Friday prayers speaker in Isfahan, the second biggest city in Iran, until his resignation in 2002 when he shocked the country’s governing religious establishment by condemning the regime and protesting the country’s political and economic situation.

In his resignation letter, which was ignored by the conservatives-controlled official media, he said he could not remain silent on the “tangible realties…and the suffering of people.” He denounced “life-long powers; mafia-type gangs…that act under the name of religion and authoritarian fascists…walking up the ladder of religion and riding on the back of political camels.”