Iran's leading clerical figure dies

The country's leading clerical figure has died at home in the country's holy city of Qom.

The body of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Iran's most-senior dissident cleric, lies in foreground, as unidentified relatives and friends mourn at his home, in the city of Qom, 78 miles  (125 kilometers) south of Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. Montazeri, who was seen as the spiritual father of Iran's reform movement, died aged 87 on Sunday.(AP Photo)

87-year-old Ayatollah Monta-zeri passed away due to cardiac arrest earlier Sunday morning. He was one of the leaders behind Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. He's well-known as the one-time designated successor to the Revolution's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, before falling out with him in 1989 over government policies. Thousands of his supporters have travelled to his hometown to attend his funeral scheduled for Monday.