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 NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran's ruling establishment than Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran's post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds.
"Simply put, the whole affair does not concern Najaf," said Sheik Ali al-Najafi, son of and spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Bashir al-Najafi, one of the city's four top Shiite clerics. "We will not interfere in the internal affairs of a dear, next door neighbor."
The four — who include Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani — have remained quiet on the upheavals in Iran since the disputed presidential election June 12. The reasons have to do with both religion and politics.
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