The article is about far more than this one fatwa. According to this article in National Review Online, "a fatwa issued by one of the country's most prestigious and revered religious leaders, the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. His message was directed far beyond the boundaries of Iran, to all members of the Shia faith. It was a powerful and politically important message: Suicide terrorism is antithetical to the teachings of Islam, and those who practice it, and kill women, children, and babies, are doomed to eternity in hell. The struggle between the Palestinian people and Israel must be resolved by other means, above all by negotiations. A tumult broke out when the import of the statement became clear, but the parliamentary president permitted the deputy to read the fatwa in its entirety.

The proceedings were broadcast live throughout Iran. Therefore, although no Iranian publication and, to my knowledge, no foreign-news service reported the event, the Iranian people were able to hear it in real time.

This is an event of enormous importance, for it is the first time that a leading Iranian cleric has condemned suicide terrorism, and it is an explicit attack on the Iranian regime, which has praised the terrorists and called upon Iranians to volunteer for suicide missions. It is even more significant against the background of the latest efforts of the Iranian people, who are trying desperately to free themselves from the mullahs and ayatollahs. Two weeks ago, the leader of the student movement called upon workers and teachers to shut down the schools and factories during the May Day period. Shortly thereafter, another student group — heretofore vigorous supporters of the "reformist" President Khatami — denounced him and proclaimed the reform movement a total failure. Throughout Khorassan Province workers and students have been demonstrating for nearly a month. Over the weekend, new demonstrations broke out near Tehran, where many workers have not been paid for a year! At Friday prayers, in an amazing confession of failure, Ayatollah Janati — the head of the Council of Guardians and one of the five most powerful men in the country — admitted to the faithful that Iran was in desperate economic straits. Iran, he said, was as badly off as Argentina, perhaps even worse."