Hojat al-Islam Ahmad Montazeri, the son of late Iranian dissident cleric Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, was released March 4 from prison, reportedly after the intervention of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The story of Montazeri’s sentencing by the Special Court of Clergy and subsequent suspension of it days later is full of intrigue allegedly involving a rising and powerful conservative candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

In August 2016, Montazeri released an audio file of his late father imploring judicial officials not to execute some prisoners, most of whom belonged to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK). The recording was made in the late 1980s at a time when Ayatollah Montazeri was deputy supreme leader. His opposition to the executions, which eventually took place, resulted in his losing that position.

For releasing the audio file, the Special Court of Clergy charged Ahmad Montazeri with acting against the national security of Iran, attacking the Islamic Republic, insulting and spreading lies about the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and supporting the MEK, which had carried out terrorist attacks in Iran.

Montazeri was sentenced to six years in prison and taken into custody Feb. 22. He was reportedly released on furlough for a few days, and then on March 4, Montazeri’s family said that his sentence had been suspended and that he had returned home.