Dissident cleric's daughter criticises Khatami

The daughter of a leading dissident cleric in Iran has criticised President Mohammad Khatami for failing to defend Iranians against the country's hardline judiciary.

In an open letter, Ashraf Montazeri, the daughter of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, criticised the President for not speaking up against what she described as the illegal actions of the Special Clergy Court, which has ordered the arrest of her husband Hadi Hahemi and brother Saeed Montazeri.

They are both currently in jail pending trial.

Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has been under house arrest in Qom since 1997 after criticising the Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was once designated to succeed the leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service