But Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, is a stickler for democratic form.
The latter phrase dates to Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power.
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Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani says only government forces should be allowed to carry weapons.
But it has the blessing of Iraq's most powerful cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
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Khatami has openly sided with the challenger, Mir Hossein Moussavi, as has the reformist Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.
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Montazeri was once a confidant of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran for a decade after the revolution.
Rival Shia forces in Lebanon, such as Muhammad Fadlallah, an influential ayatollah, increasingly distance themselves from Iranian-style radicalism.
In another development, Iraqi-based Ayatollah Ali Sastani, a top Shiite authority, issued an edict Tuesday on the conflict.
But their irritation is nothing compared to that of the country's leading Shia authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has played a vital role in this, but every bomb makes his job harder.
Every Shia layman chooses his own ayatollah, whose authority is determined partly by the size of his following.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, had played a notable part in creating the Alliance.
Ayatollah Hussein Mirza Najati, who has close ties to Iraq, was stripped of his passport on Sunday, officials said.
During that year, the Shah of Iran was forced to flee the country and the Ayatollah Khomeini took power.
Ayatollah Sistani has consistently sought to ensure that Sunni extremists' attacks on Shia targets do not unleash communal violence.
The revolution inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 was losing its harder edges.
Najaf is the seat of the Shiite clerical establishment and home of its foremost religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Mr Sadr's followers subsequently laid siege to the house of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a senior cleric regarded as a moderate.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, has issued a fatwa compelling the faithful to cast their ballots.
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the leader of the council, is a strong supporter of Mr Ahmadinejad and has already backed his victory.
His conservative opponents disagree: were the late Ayatollah Khomeini still around, they say, he would ban such outbursts of uncontrolled emotion.
However, long-term tensions between Mr Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have tainted Mr Rahim-Mashaei's reputation among some conservative elements.
Moussavi is a member of Iran's Expediency Council, which mediates between the parliament and the non-elected Guardian Council led by Ayatollah Khamenei.
Ayatollah Montazeri was Ayatollah Khomeini's designated successor as Supreme Leader in the 1980s, but was disgraced shortly before Khomeini's death in 1988.
Ayatollah Hakim's brother, Abdel Aziz, has taken over as leader of Sciri.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the leading Shiite religious figure in Iraq.
But only two days before the event, it was announced that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would make the opening address.
In 1979, then-President Carter undermined the Shah of Iran and made possible the Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran and subsequent Islamic revolution.
Considered so extreme that the Ayatollah Khomeini formally banned the group in the early 1980s, the society was forced to move underground.
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