Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini

The History of the Islamic Revolution
Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini

Hojatoleslam Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini was the second son of Imam Khomeini who had a very effective role in the communications and administration of the office of the leader of the Islamic Revolution after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

 

Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini was born in Qom on 15 March 1946. His youth and adolescence coincided with political events in the country on the occasion of the nationalization of the oil industry and the beginning of Imam Khomeini’s campaign, and he grew up in such an environment. He completed his elementary and secondary education in his birthplace and received a natural science diploma from the Hakim Nezami High School of Qom. During his studies, he was also a member of the Qom football team and he was captain of the team for some time.

 

With the deportation of Imam Khomeini on 4 November 1964, and the subsequent deportation of Sayyed Mostafa Khomeini’s older brother, Sayyed Ahmad, he became increasingly involved in political and anti-government activities and during the Imam’s presence in Najaf (1965-1978), Sayyed Ahmad was the communication links between religious fighters inside the country and Imam Khomeini. Duplicate and publish Imam Khomeini’s declarations to them, consulting with militant groups and conveying messages and Imam Khomeini’s guidance to them and arranging the payment of Imam Khomeini’s tuition fees to the students of the Qom seminary were among the most important activities of Sayyed Ahmad. He travelled to Najaf four times. He first secretly entered Iraq through Abadan in the late 1965 and returned to Iran after five months and was arrested on his way to Iran on the Khosravi border crossing and transferred to the regional security organization but cleverly concealed his identity and after a few days, he was released and returned to Qom. Again, in late 1966, he left for Najaf. He had already begun seminary education, during this trip, he was dressed as a clergyman by Imam Khomeini and took advantage of his father and his brother, Sayyed Mostafa’s lessons in Najaf for a short time. He was arrested on 29 June 1967, on his return to Iran, and this time he was transferred to the Qezel Qaleh prison in Tehran and was interrogated for three months. After his release from prison, he continued his studies with scholars such as Sayyed Mohammad-Baqer Soltani-Tabatabai, Mortaza Haeri and Musa Shobeyri-Zanjani.

 

Along with his religious studies, he pursued his political activities. Since Imam Khomeini’s house in Qom was under the care of SAVAK, he rented a house near Qom to publish Imam Khomeini’s declarations. The volume of documents and reports by SAVAK in the case of Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini showed the extent of his activities. Sayyed Ahmad’s disregard for SAVAK’s warnings eventually led to his arrest in October 1967. The Shah’s regime released him after each arrest for fear that Khomeini’s popularity would grow. Sayyed Ahmad set out on a pilgrimage trip in 1973. He stayed in Najaf for a short time and spent some time in Lebanon and discussed with Imam Musa al-Sadr on campaign issues and confrontation with the Shah’s regime.

 

For some time, he was trained under Dr. Mostafa Chamran. For some time, he was trained under the supervision of Dr. Mostafa Chamran. In 1977, with the problems that arose over the fighters and friends of Imam Khomeini, due to the possibility of his arrest by SAVAK, Sayyed Ahmad went to Najaf. After the death of Sayyed Mostafa Khomeini on 23 October 1977, the duties of Sayyed Ahmad were doubled. Organizing the Imam’s home affairs in Najaf as the center of the leadership of the struggle against the Shah’s regime was a daunting task. In September 1978, when Iraqi government pressure forced Imam Khomeini to leave the country, Sayyed Ahmad proposed a trip to Paris to Imam Khomeini. Imam Khomeini’s four-month presence in Neauphle-le-Château was the culmination of his activities and, consequently, the activities of Sayyed Ahmad. Sayyed Ahmad’s activities during this period were so dense that according to eyewitnesses he got sick and fell into bed several times. Sayyed Ahmad returned to Tehran with Imam Khomeini on 1 February 1979 and remained with his father until the victory of the revolution.

 

After the victory of the revolution, at the discretion of his father, he refused to accept government positions. When Abol Hasan Bani-Sadr became president, on the trick and in order to preserve his appearance, he asked Imam Khomeini for permission to nominate Sayyed Ahmad as prime minister but Imam Khomeini rejected his proposal. Sayyed Ahmad did not enter any of the political categories to prevent the political exploitation of numerous groups, and he stayed with Imam Khomeini as a trusted adviser. However, he was repeatedly charged. Some groups faced sincere but explicit criticism of their political stance but accused him of favouring other political currents. In the early years of the revolution, each of these currents tried to attract Imam Khomeini’s attention to follow his own line, they even introduced Sayyed Ahmad as a supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization.

 

In a message to the Iranian nation on 14 November 1982, Imam wrote: “I have never had the desire to speak or defend my relatives. But... I have a strong likelihood of slandering some of my relatives and friends after I take revenge on me... One of the people most likely to take revenge on me is my son Ahmad Khomeini. I bear witness to the sacred forefront that I have not seen any behaviour or speech contrary to the path of the Islamic Revolution in Iran since the beginning of the revolution and before the revolution when it came to political issues... and for some time in political affairs. The accusations were made that Ahmad was a supporter of the hypocrites, and during the revolution, I saw opposition from him (others) that the others were not as strongly and decisively... and I hope that Ahmad... does not shake in the service of the Creator and the People through slander and opposition.

 

 

Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini was in the process of making war decisions during the imposed war, with the presence of a top defence official. He immediately informed Imam Khomeini of the situation of the fronts and the situation in the country.

 

Membership of the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution and Representation of the people of Tehran in the Assembly of Experts was one of the other activities of Sayyed Ahmad during the life of Imam Khomeini.

 

After Imam Khomeini’s death, Sayyed Ahmad took over the trusteeship of the shrine of the Imam. Sayyed Ahmad can be the only person that Imam Khomeini has explicitly praised him in his will. Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini, on the orders of the Imam, in order to safeguard his works and ideas and resolve the doubts and disputes in these works, established a center called the Institute of Arrangement and Publication of Works and began to publish Imam’s written works. He was also appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei to oversee the pilgrimage, but in a letter to the leadership, he apologized for accepting the post.

 

Sayyed Ahmad with a heart and respiratory complication was hospitalized at Baqiyatollah al-Azam (Jamaran) Hospital on 12 March 1995, and died on 17 March 1995 and was buried next to Imam Khomeini’s grave.

 

Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini married Fatemeh Tabatabai in 1970 and his three children, Hasan, Yaser and Ali, are remained in memory. His eldest son, Sayyed Hasan Khomeini, is currently the trusteeship of Imam Khomeini Shrine and Institute of Arrangement and Publication of Works.

 

Yadegar-e Emam Expressway in Tehran is named after Sayyed Ahmad Khomeini.

 

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