Born in 1925 in Qom, after the 1979 Iranian Revolution he served on the Special Clerical Court, and Assembly of Experts, founded the conservative Resalat Newspaper.
He was arrested in November 1997 after an open letter by him was published in Britain criticizing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for allowing torture and "moral corruption" among officials and clerics.
Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Azari-Qomi was arrested in November 1997 after having published an open letter outside of Iran (inter alia in the London-based independent weekly newspaper Nimrooz) in which he criticized Supreme Leader Khamenei.
In the 34-page open letter, Azari-Qomi blamed Khamenei for having initiated the creation of the Ansar-e Hezbollah that was responsible for threatening a number of liberal academics and writers.
He accused Khamenei for having set the stage for widespread "moral corruption" among regime officials and clergymen which has "withered the roots of decency."
Azari-Qomi also appealed to president Khatami to abolish the Special Clerical Court which had arrested and tortured many followers of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi.
[citation needed] Finally, grand ayatollah Azari-Qomi reminded the new president Khatami that with more than 23 million people who voted for him, he had the constitutional possibility to call for a referendum on the extent of the powers and the role of the Supreme Leader.