November 7, 2007 (LPAC) -- Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri said in a speech to a group of pro-reform students last week, that Iran's "nuclear row should be resolved through direct talks with America to avoid a war."

"Talk of a possible military action should be taken seriously," the Ayatollah warned.

A transcript of the November 2nd speech was faxed to Reuters, and just reported by the Israeli daily Ynet. Montazeri said that Iranian authorities were mistaken if they believed "an attack would rally Iranians to the leadership as they did during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war..." "People have changed. They are not willing to sacrifice their lives like they did during the Iraq war," the Ayatollah warned.

Montazeri also charged the clerical establishment with "repression," saying the harsh sentences given to political prisoners by the judiciary were "illegal and un-Islamic." He charged that the sentences are "against the constitution."