On October 26, 1964, with a few days delay due to the United States presidential election, Imam Khomeyni was arrested and deported to Turkey. Imam Khomeyni’s resided in Turkey for eleven months, during which he was subjected to psychological and physical pressure to accept the compromise. The book “Tahrir al-Wasilah” was written in these months. On January 3, 1965, Mostafa Khomeyni, the son of Imam Khomeyni, who had been detained since the day of his deportation, was exiled to Turkey. In Turkey, too, everyone was talking about Imam Khomeyni.
Najaf
Imam Khomeyni and his son were deported to Najaf in October 1965. The manner in which Imam Khomeyni was transferred to Iraq was such that the end of his deportation seemed imminent, and the government intended to isolate Imam Khomeyni in Najaf and away from its politics.
Due to the insistence of the seminarians, he began his teaching classes and at the same time, he advised his revolutionary friends in Iran to observe patience. In those years, relations between Iran and Iraq became strained. The Iraqi regime saw the presence of Imam Khomeyni in its country as an opportunity to put pressure on the Iranian government, but Imam Khomeyni did not use his movement to make reconciliation between Iran and Iraq. For example, he rejected the interview invitation which was made by the Iraqi radio and television.
The movement’s activities in Najaf were not interrupted. Four days after arriving in Najaf, Imam Khomeyni called on Ayatollah Sayyed Muhsin al-Hakim to rise. On April 15, 1967, he wrote a letter to Hoveyda in protest at the anti-Islamic bills, and a few days later, he sent a message calling for continuing the movement:
“Don’t give in to oppression. They would go and you will survive.” On June 7, 1967, in a message stated on the occasion of the six-day Arab-Israeli war, he issued a fatwa wherein he prohibited the Islamic Republic’s trade and political ties with Israel and the use of Israeli goods in Islamic societies. A year later, on August 27, 1968, Imam Khomeyni issued his famous fatwa authorizing the giving of charities and zakat to Palestinian guerrillas.
This is the first major fatwa issued by a Shi’ah source of emulation authorizing the giving of zakat and charities to non-Shi’ah Muslims. During his stay in Najaf, Imam Khomeyni used to visit the shrine of Imam Ali for three hours a day, and this was his only delight in the face of opposition to his revolutionary activities. In January 1970, he started teaching Wilayah al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent) in his classes. Imam Khomeyni’s students translated the pamphlets into Arabic and sent them to the Arab countries.
During the struggle, one of Imam Khomeyni’s activities was establishing relations with university students so that to abolish their negative attitude towards the clergy. In a letter, he wrote: “I made every effort to alleviate or eliminate the suspicions of different classes of society, especially the educated class, towards religious scholars; but they themselves do not want to accept this.”
At a time when armed struggle was very popular in Iran, Imam Khomeyni was repeatedly asked to allow such a type of struggle, but he refused. In this situation, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran announced initiating a guerrilla struggle, and many requests and letters were sent to Najaf to pursue Imam Khomeyni to support this group. Hoseyn-Ali Montazeri, Mahmoud Taleqani, Ayatollah Mortaza Motahhari and Sayyed Ahmad Khomeyni also encouraged Imam Khomeyni to defend this group. Regarding the representative of the Organization, who had spoken to Imam Khomeyni about the Organization for twenty days, he said: “He had come to get approval from me. I listened and did not answer at all. He just said that we want to carry out an armed struggle. I said: No. it is not the time of the armed struggle, and you will lose your forces and can’t do anything.”
With the escalation of the Iran-Iraq conflict in December 1971, the expulsion of Iranians who were residing in Iraq resumed. In his speech, Imam Khomeyni threatened to leave Iraq. The government representative went to see him and express apology, and the expulsion of the Iranians was stopped.
On October 6, 1973, while Iran was immersed in the 2,500-year-old imperial celebration, the Zionists invaded Palestine (known as the “Yom Kippur War” or “Ramadan War”). Through sending messages to the people and leaders of Islamic countries, Imam Khomeyni called on them to help the oppressed people of Palestine. In his message regarding the 2,500-year-old celebration, he said: “This is a celebration for the bloodthirsty kings whose example is evident today. Muslims are sacrificing their lives for the glory of Islam and the liberation of Palestine, but the Shah of Iran is holding the celebrations of the vulgar imperial regime.”
On June 7, 1975, the officers attacked a ceremony commemorating the 15 Khordad [June 5, 1963] uprising and arrested 350 seminarians. A few days later, the Iraqi government attacked the Najaf seminary. Imam Khomeyni expressed his objection to the Iraqi president. In another letter, Imam Khomeyni wrote: “My concern is Najaf’s indifference to the events of Qom and possibly supporting the opposition groups.”
Imam Khomeyni spent difficult years in Najaf. “I don’t know what to do with this atmosphere in Najaf. Every step I take, I face opposition and acts of sabotage carried out by some of the mullahs of Najaf. If I deal harshly with the Ba’athist rulers, they will immediately state that he wants to disturb the activities of the Islamic Seminary of Najaf! If I remain silent in the face of the Ba’athists, they will say that he has made a deal with them.”
The Peak of the Movement
On October 23, 1977, the news of the demise of Sayyed Mostafa, the son of Imam Khomeyni, made everyone astonished since he had no prior history of any major physical illness. The doctors said that he had been poisoned but Imam Khomeyni did not allow the autopsy to be performed. He also did not cancel his classes. In his message regarding this event, he wrote: “We are facing a huge problem and tragic tragedies and we should not think about our personal sufferings.” The tune of Imam Khomeyni’s message made the Shah angry hence he ordered the Ettela’at newspaper to publish an article against him. In protest against such disgrace, the people revolted in Qom, which was repressed. Imam Khomeyni delivered a fiery speech in Najaf and called for the continuation of the movement.
The cities of Iran commemorated the fortieth day of the martyrdom of people in other cities, and Imam Khomeyni sent a message to each of these events. In one of these messages, he promised victory: “I promise the awake and vigilant people of Iran who have a strong spirit and unparalleled courage that they will gain victory with pride and honour; a victory with independence and freedom; a victory with cutting the hands of the foreigners and looters; a victory with dismantling the oppression and the extinction of the Pahlavi dynasty.”
Demonstrations continued on various occasions until, at the time of the peak of the repression of the Shah’s regime on September 8, 1978, protests were slaughtered in Jaleh Square. Imam Khomeyni wrote: “Oh people of Iran! Be assured that sooner or later victory will come to you. Through the National Reconciliation, the Shah seeks to involve the honourable clergy of Iran and respected politicians in his assassination, but his deception will soon be exposed.”
Neauphle-le-Château
As Imam Khomeyni’s activities culminated, Iraqi government officials, surrounded his house and did not allow anybody to visit him. As the pressure increased, he decided to go to Syria via Kuwait because relations between Iraq and Syria were not good. He stayed at the Kuwaiti border for ten hours, but the Kuwait government did not allow him to enter the country. Then, it was decided that he would go to Paris. Imam Khomeyni went to Paris but sent a messenger to Syria to get Hafidh al-Asad’s consent for residing in Syria. He welcomed this suggestion. In an interview with reporters and through making speeches in Neauphle-le-Château, Imam Khomeyni used to describe the situation in Iran and the goals of the people’s movement. During this time, Farah Pahlavi met with Ayatollah Khoei on her trip to Karbala. The news of this meeting came as a bombshell. Imam Khomeyni forbade talking about this meeting. Efforts were made to divert the popular uprising, from posing the idea of monarchy instead of the government to the implementation of the constitution and the revival of the Constitution Movement. But Imam Khomeyni insisted on the Shah’s expulsion from the country. The continuation of the popular uprising along with Imam Khomeyni’s messages and speeches as well as the events such as the 13 Aban Massacre [of November 4, 1978] and the demonstrations of Tasu’a and Ashura led by Imam Khomeyni forced the Shah to leave the country. After becoming the Prime Minister, Bakhtiar tried to visit Imam Khomeyni in Paris so that to reach an agreement with him. Imam Khomeyni stated that he will not talk to him unless he would resign. This meeting did not take place and another conspiracy failed.
Efforts were about to become fruitful. Finally, after years of living away from home, Imam Khomeyni entered Iran on January 23, 1979, and on February 4, 1979, he appointed Mahdi Bazargan as the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government asking people to support him. Imam Khomeyni issued a statement regarding the matter of the February 10, 1979 state of siege calling it a hoax and asking people not to pay attention to it. This action of Imam Khomeyni led to the success of the movement and the victory of the Islamic Revolution. On March 1, 1979, he went to Qom to settle there where many people welcomed him. From the very beginning, Imam Khomeyni insisted on holding a referendum. Finally, in the referendum which was held on March 30, 1979, the people said yes to the Islamic Republic.
The most important actions of Imam Khomeyni in the first year of the Revolution include preventing the dissolution of the army which several revolutionaries demanded, managing the events of Khorramshahr, Mahabad, Kordestan and Paveh, making efforts to form the Assembly of Experts and solving its challenges, supporting the seizure of the American embassy, agreeing to the resignation of the interim government, announcing the order of the establishment of the Jihad of Construction Organization and the Basij-e Mostazafin Organization and ending the issue of the supporters of Ayatollah Shariatmadari. On January 19, 1980, he wrote his new will introducing Hoseyn-Ali Montazeri and Ayatollah Sayyed Mortaza Pasandideh as his trustees. A few days later, he was taken to a hospital in Tehran because of a heart attack. Doctors believed that he needs surgery, but Imam Khomeyni refused to have surgery and agreed to use the medication regularly. After two months, Imam Khomeyni recovered and the doctors said that he has to leave Qom insisting that he should live in a house near the heart hospital. In addition, at the discretion of the physicians, Imam Khomeyni had to live in the north of Tehran where there was less air pollution. The rise and fall of Banisadr, the coup d’état of Nojeh, the disputes between the officials, the assassinations carried out by the People’s Mojahedin Organization and the Imposed War (Iraq-Iraq War) were among the most important issues that Imam Khomeyni managed in the first years of the Revolution. In March 1986, Imam Khomeyni’s heart stopped for a moment and while the doctors’ efforts seemed to be unsuccessful suddenly his heart resumed normal beating through giving it an electric shock. In the hospital, he said to Sayyed Khamenei that: “Be strong, don’t feel weak, rely on God, be strong against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other,” and “If you are together, no one can harm you.” After this incident, Imam Khomeyni managed difficult events the most important of which are the issue of choosing the deputy of the leader, the issue of Sayyed Mahdi Hashemi’s group, the issue of Robert McFarlane [National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Ronald Reagan], issues related to the United Nations Resolution and the end of the war, disagreements in the Republican Party and among the officials, the killing of Iranian pilgrims to Makkah, the deepening of political differences, the United States attack on the Iranian passenger plane and the publication of the book “The Satanic Verses.” On May 18, 1989, doctors confirmed that he had stomach cancer. On May 23, 1989, Imam Khomeyni underwent surgery. On May 31, 1989, he told Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani that the process of reviewing the constitution should be facilitated. Imam Khomeyni passed away on the evening of June 3, 1989.
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