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By JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration publicly mourned the passing of Iran's Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, in an unusual move U.S. officials said was designed to align the White House with Iran's democratic movement.

But U.S. officials also stressed Sunday that Mr. Montazeri's death and the continuing political protests inside Iran are unlikely to significantly alter President Barack Obama's overall strategy of seeking to engage Tehran in the near term.

Few inside the U.S. administration say they see any imminent threat to the Iranian regime's hold on power, forcing Washington to remain open to negotiations with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government over Tehran's nuclear program.

Many U.S. diplomats and strategists also continue to believe that any aggressive and overt American support for Iran's democrats at this stage could hasten a broader political crackdown by Tehran's security forces.

"It's unlikely that anything in the short term of any significance is going to change toward Iran," a senior U.S. official briefed on Iran policy said Sunday. "With Montazeri's voice gone, what happens to the movement? That remains to be seen."

Mr. Montazeri emerged in recent months as an unlikely channel of messages from Iran's opposition parties, known as the Green Movement, to the White House, U.S. officials and Iranian opposition leaders said.

In 1979, Mr. Montazeri was one of the leading clerical voices behind the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Shah, and was a strident critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East. However, in the late 1980s he broke with the Islamic republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and in recent years has struck a much more conciliatory posture toward the U.S. and the West.

Mr. Montazeri in November gave an address from his home in the holy city of Qom and publicly condemned the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Tehran after the Shah's fall. Members of the opposition movement said that Mr. Montazeri's comments were designed as a signal to Mr. Obama and the U.S. that the Green Movement sought better ties with Washington. A number of opposition leaders subsequently voiced frustration that the White House didn't more publicly respond to Mr. Montazeri's comments.

On Sunday, the White House praised the once fierce U.S. critic for his efforts to promote democracy and human rights in his country. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who seek to exercise the universal rights and freedoms that he so consistently advocated," National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said.

Many Iran watchers, however, believe the Obama administration will ultimately have to more closely align itself with the Iranian opposition movement. Few expect Tehran's theocrats to respond in any meaningful way to Mr. Obama's diplomatic overtures. And they also believe Iran's opposition movement will strengthen as Iran's flagging economy fuels domestic opposition to Mr. Ahmadinejad.

Still, U.S. officials indicated Sunday that the Obama administration will remain very much focused on international efforts to contain Tehran's nuclear program.

Mr. Obama has given Iran until year-end to respond to Washington's ultimatum of direct talks over the nuclear question or expansive new United Nations-backed sanctions. Tehran has given few indications of a willingness to negotiate an end to its nuclear ambitions. U.S. officials said Sunday that they are accelerating discussions among the five permanent members of the Security Council to map out a new sanctions regime while "remaining open to talks" with Tehran.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com