GVF — Despite Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s sons’ announcement that they plan to hold their mother’s funeral procession on Sunday from their house to Qom’s holy shrine, security officials have opposed such a move.

Following the passing away of Gran Ayatollah Montazeri’s wife Ms Rabbani, the late Ayatollah’s website announced that a funeral procession would be held on Sunday at 10am local time. However, Ayatollah Montazeri’s son, Ahmad Montazeri has said that officials from the Iranian intelligence and the Special Clerical Court of Qom have asked the family to confine the funeral to the burial site.

“I told them not to create problems for the regime and yourselves,” Ahmad Montazeri told the BBC. “With the Nowrouz holidays, the funeral will not be so big [anyway], and with your actions, you are creating problems for the regime, the people, and us.”

“Unfortunately they didn’t accept it.”

According to Mr Montazeri, security officials have ordered the family to carry the body of their deceased mother to the cemetery by car and for mourners to pay their respects from a distance of 150 meters.

“This is abnormal, and we have not accepted. We plan to hold the ceremony as we had previously announced,” he said.

Ayatollah Montazeri, who died in December 2009, was considered as the spiritual leader of the Green Movement and his death sparked a new wave of protests in Iran. Authorities prevented mourners from to commemorate his death in many cities, fearing a further spread of demonstrations.