The widely circulated news concerning the death of the Friday Prayer Imam of Ahvaz and the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in oil-rich Khuzestan province has been denied by his office.

Jamaran, a website in Iran cited Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri's representative on Tuesday, February 12, as saying, the 78-year old cleric is currently visiting England, "expanding" on the "ideals of the Islamic Revolution."

He is in good health, the representative has insisted, adding, "The purpose of his travel to England has got nothing to do with medical treatment."

Mousavi Jazayeri is a close ally of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mousavi Jazayeri's visit to Britain for “expanding” on the “ideals of the Islamic Revolution” is another example of state-sponsored ayatollahs occasionally visiting Europe mainly for medical treatment and check-ups. Most of such visits take place in utmost secrecy.

While the citizens of the Islamic Republic are frequently denied entry visas to Western countries, social media users have bitterly complained that senior clerics in the ruling establishment are readily granted entry.

However, when it was leaked in November 2018 that former head of Iran's judiciary (1999-2009) Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi was receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Hanover, Germany, hundreds of Iranian dissidents rushed to the hospital to protest, demanding Germany’s justice ministry to charge the ayatollah with crimes against humanity.

The German government took no action and the 70-year old ayatollah returned to Iran.

Hashemi Shahroudi, who died last December was accused of playing a major role in the harsh treatment of political prisoners and the extra-judicial killings of thousands of detainees.