It seems the mysterious “Sheikh Haron”, who rose to prominence after sending letters to the family of a dead Australian soldier, is someone [pdf] called Ayatollah Manteghi Boroujerdi.
Sheikh Haron is Ayatollah Manteghi Boroujerdi. He was born in Boroujerd. He is the son of Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Manteghi Boroujerdi who was the student of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Boroujerdi (marja-e-Taqlid). The Grand Ayatollah who established cordial relation with Sheikh Mahmud Shaltut, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar. These two Muslim clerics established the “House for Bringing Muslim Sects Nearer” in Cairo, Egypt for the unity of Muslims. Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Manteghi Boroujerdi first studied in Hawzah Elmiyyah in Boroujerd and then in Hawzah Elmiyyah in Qom and later in Hawzah Elmiyyah in Najaf (Iraq)……
The ABC’s Religion Report has an interview with him when he was apparently living in a tent on the steps of State Parliament in NSW:
People in Sydney walking past the State Parliament buildings on Macquarie Street in recent weeks might have noticed a tall Muslim cleric who has taken up residence in a tent on the footpath outside. He is Ayatollah Manteghi Boroujerdi, a liberal cleric who fled Iran four years ago after being very critical of the Iranian regime. Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s wife and two daughters are now under house arrest in Iran, and he’s hoping the Howard government will put pressure on the regime there to let his family join him here in Australia.