Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
At the friday prayer in Iran, country's Guardian Council Chairman, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati criticized president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his condolence letter regarding the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who passed away on March 5, IRIB News reported.
In his letter of condolence, Ahmadinejad wrote that "Chavez will no doubt return with Christ..." - the remarks that sparked the criticism in the first place.
"The return (Raj`a) is not a state award that can be given to anyone. I wish some people would do research before speaking like that. I hope this will not happen again," he said.
Jannati noted that this incident is worrying to religious scholars, cleric and all muslims.
Other political and religious leaders have expressed negativity over Ahmadinejad's condolence letter as well.