Not surprisingly, Mr. Khamenei did not have a strong relationship with the people of Iranshahr in the early days of his exile. Sometimes Raoufi’s brothers and others came to see him. But his interactions with the youth in that city led to the expansion of his relationships with people. Some of these youths continued their relationships with him until he left Iranshahr. Mr. Khamenei did not limit himself to having relationships only with the people of Iranshahr. When the residents of Bazman, which was located 100 kilometres from Iranshahr, invited him, he accepted their invitation and went there with Mr. Hojjati-Kermani. From then on, he would go to Bazman once or twice a week, and in addition to leading the congregational prayers, he would deliver short speeches for the residents. The issue raised concerns for the security agency, so much so that the SAVAK office in that region called on the Shahrbani to prevent the exiled clerics from leaving Iranshahr, and summon and warn them severely.
SAVAK’s excuse was that the exiled clerics call on the Shi’ahs to become united which might cause clashes between Shi’ahs and Sunnis whereas since entering Iranshahr Mr. Khamenei has been trying to remove the psychological gap between Sunnis and Shi’ahs. Hence, he called on the Sunnis and Shi’ahs to be together in practice. Mr. Khamenei told the Sunni cleric Qamar al-Din that this does not mean cutting off our connection with the past, because our intellectual and doctrinal existence is linked to the past, yet cooperation with each other must be based on taking the future into account. In his subsequent meetings with other Sunni scholars, he would recall the same issue, which was sometimes accepted and praised by them.
Another step he took in creating the spirit of unity between Shi’ahs and Sunnis was holding the celebration on the 12th to 17th of Rabi’ al-Awwal, which after the Islamic Revolution was named Islamic Unity Week.
Mr. Khamenei’s first move in Iranshahr was to make the al-Rasoul Mosque active again. This mosque has been almost closed, and only mourning ceremonies for Imam al-Husayn in the first decade of Muharram were held there. The first step was holding the congregational prayers.
After the prayer, Mr. Khamenei used to speak for about 10-15 minutes. His speeches were broadcasted through loudspeakers. In addition to the Shi’ahs, the Sunni believers also showed interest in what was going on in the al-Rasoul Mosque. After a while, he suggested that Friday prayers will be held. The presence of the people in this prayer was remarkable. Very soon, the Friday prayers at al-Rasoul Mosque became the biggest Friday prayer held in Iranshahr.
These actions led to the strengthening of the relations of the exiled with Sunni scholars. On May 16, 1978, they held a meeting and after discussing Mr. Khamenei’s activities, especially his speeches at the al-Rasoul Mosque, they decided to prevent him from going to the mosque and ask the previous prayer leader of the mosque, Haj Mohassel Yazdi, to come back to Iranshahr. Moreover, it was decided that someone should watch Mr. Khamenei’s residence all the time so that they could monitor his activities day and night because, at all hours, various groups would come to this house.
Subsequent reports from the SAVAK office in Iranshahr showed that Mr. Khamenei is continuing to hold congregational prayers and delivering speeches. However, the limitations caused by the guards standing in front of the houses of the exiles, which especially caused problems for the guests as well, raised objections. The intimacy and sympathy which have been created between the people of Iranshahr and the clergy, especially Mr. Khamenei, was unchallengeable. Meanwhile, Sheykhan, the head of the SAVAK’s Khorasan office, could not do anything in this regard except writing some reports.
On July 31, Sabeti, the director-general of the Third Office, ordered the office of SAVAK in Zahedan to move Mr. Khamenei to Jiroft. Consequently, on August 6, the Mashhad Social Security Commission convened a meeting and approved the change of Mr. Khamenei’s place. It was on the eve of August 13, that someone came to see Mr. Khamenei. It was the head of the Shahrbani. He said that you should be ready to move. The reason for moving the exiles to another city overnight was nothing but worrying about the reaction of the people. Mr. Khamenei said he would go there in his own car but they did not accept that. He said: “If you do not accept, I will not come with you.” The chief of Shahrbani had no choice but to agree.
In those days, Hasan Khojasteh, his wife’s brother, was in Iranshahr. He had come to this city before. Hasan Khojasteh was transferring messages and letters. Mr. Khamenei’s letters to other exiles in various areas were transferred through him, Ali-Asghar Pourmohammadi, and two others. Mr. Khamenei was behind the wheel, Khojasteh sat in the front seat, and two officers with long, old rifles sat in the back seats. The Peugeot moved while an old police car was also moving behind it.
From a distance, Jiroft seems to be a large garden with buildings. It was hot, as Iranshahr, and humid and there were so many insects in the city. They reached the Shahrbani station; a small and cramped building. None of the decision-makers was present. They had gone to their homes. People passed by the Shahrbani building in surprise. They had probably never seen a sayyed cleric spread his cloak on the sidewalk and sit on it. He asked Mr. Khojasteh to find Mr. Rabbani-Amlishi’s house. Mr. Mohammad-Mahdi Rabbani-Amlishi spent his exile in the city of Babak, where he was deported to Jiroft, and since then he was living with his family in the city.
A few days after Mr. Khamenei’s settlement, Mr. Abdorrahim Rabbani-Shirazi, who was spending his exile in Sardasht, was moved to Jiroft, according to the order of Qom Social Security Commission. In those days, Jiroft was the first city to which the exiles of the Islamic Movement were sent. They were seven clerics and two businessmen.
The exiles rented several houses for their forced stay so that Mr. Rabbani-Amlishi does not need to host them anymore. Jiroft Grand Mosque was the gathering place of the exiles. “The arrival of Mr. Khamenei and other exiles in Jiroft coincided with the holy month of Ramadan of 1398 AH/1978 CE. On this occasion, the presence of people in the Grand Mosque was more visible than before. On the third Night of Qadr (August 27), which coincided with the fall of Jamshid Amouzgar’s government, Mr. Khamenei gave a speech praising Imam Khomeini. In that ceremony, when the lights were off the leaflets were distributed. That night, security agents recorded Mr. Khamenei’s remarks and sent them to Kerman. It was not until a few days after the exiles arrived in Jiroft that they managed to increasingly gain the attention of the youth of the city.
Distributing the leaflets and chanting the slogans after speeches in Ramadan gradually became commonplace. On September 6, after Mr. Khamenei’s speech, the attendants began chanting slogans against the Shah in front of the Grand Mosque and leaflets were distributed as well, all of which were considered to be organized by the “exiled preachers.” Mr. Khamenei’s correspondence with Ayatollah Sadouqi also continued in Jiroft. Also, Mr. Khamenei wrote a letter to Mr. Sayyed Mohammad-Kazem Shariatmadari in Qom, warning him that he had somehow supported the “extremists” in his remarks. Mr. Shariatmadari, while presenting his anti-authoritarian positions at the time, emphasized the implementation of the constitution of the Constitutional Revolution and expressed his interest in the Shah’s promise to hold an election. After Jafar Sharifi-Emami gained power and given the rhetoric his government used to create national reconciliation the situation changed; that is to say, strengthening of the Islamic movements, the pressures on the regime which were increased and the privileges that were supposed to be given to social groups, such as clerics, newspapers, political prisoners, etc.
Therefore, the rules regarding the exiles were either postponed or not implemented. Some of the exiles in Jiroft took advantage of this situation and left the place of exile for their hometown.
The situation of the country indicated that Mr. Khamenei will be acquitted very soon. However, he continued his activities until the last days of his stay in Jiroft. In a speech delivered on the eve of September 13 at the Grand Mosque, he announced the next day, Thursday evening, as the time for holding a commemoration ceremony for the martyrs of the bloody Friday of Tehran. Mr. Khamenei spent the last days of September travelling to Kahnouj in Jiroft County. When the news of his trip to Kahnouj reached Tehran, Parviz Sabeti ordered that he should be returned to Jiroft immediately and if he refused, he should be arrested. Mr. Khamenei, who had gone on this trip with Mr. Rabbani-Shirazi, returned to Jiroft on September 21.
Probably that day or the day after, the chief of the Shahrbani of Jiroft came to Mr. Khamenei and said, “you’re free.”
Archive of Ayatollah Khamenei
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