Huge turnout reported for senior Iranian cleric's funeral

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the funeral of Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, seen by many as the spiritual patron of the country's opposition movement.

Thousands of his followers set out for the holy city of Qom, presenting authorities with a challenge in controlling the situation. The 87 year old Montazeri was once designated to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, as the supreme leader.

However, the two clashed a few months before Khomeini died. Montazeri also helped draft Iran's constitution, and was among those clerics who believed the power of the supreme leader comes from the people, not God.