i understand your point. you are right.
I mean that for being spiritual leader of Iran it is an obligation to be marja taghlid and he wasn't that time.
Montazeri in that time should have been the spiritual leader but Hashemi played a dangerous game to decide who was the elected person. The same Hashemi (rafsandjani ) who is having problems now in Iran... i would not cry about him since he stole a lot of money with his family. I don't think a lot of Iranians like him. Anyway i went many times to Khamenei website his religious work is low he was doing a copy of Khomeini's work. Khomeini was a great marja taghlid and he was a leader that people accept the iri because of his personnality. but well this is past. it is a long time now he is not there.
the news you put is a fake from shiinews Iranian propaganda tipycal for brainwash the Iranians.
So i woud not trust one word of this newspaper . i would trust his own website (sistani) .