Thousands chant anti-government chants at cleric 's funeral . Senior Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri died Sunday . The death of the hard-line cleric, who was a close ally to Iran's supreme leader, is likely to further strain relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Montazeri was once heir apparent to late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , architect of Iran 's 1979 Islamic revolution .
Thousands chant anti-government chants at cleric 's funeral . Senior Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri died Sunday . Montazeri was one of several prominent clerics who publicly criticized the presidential elections last June . Montazeri was once heir apparent to late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , architect of Iran 's 1979 Islamic revolution .