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His image has become iconic: the thin, bearded,
ascetic religious leader who had turned a
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once Western-friendly country into a theocratic
regime and a rogue state.
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I am talking of course about Ayatollah Ruhollah
Mostafavi Khomeini, the supreme leader of
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the Iranian revolution.
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From Tehran he would incite Iranians and Muslims
around the world to oppose the Great Satan,
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America.
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And America reciprocated the ‘favour’
by imposing draconian sanctions on Iran and
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by isolating his country.
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Pop culture also played its part by elevating
Khomeini and the Iranians to the status of
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top world bad guys, in second place only after
the Soviets.
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If, like me[TA1] , you grew up in the 1980s,
you are probably familiar with the faceless
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pilots taken down by Tom ‘Maverick’ Cruise
in the movie Top Gun.
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They fly ‘Mig’ fighter jets but they are
not the Soviets, so they must be Iranians.
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Or you may have watched and re-watched the
epic intro sequence to Naked Gun, where Leslie
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Nielsen beats the crap out of a group of anti-American
leaders, including an Ayatollah sporting a
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mohawk under his turban.
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Or, if you are a hopeless geek, you surely
remember that Batman issue when Khomeini hired
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the Joker as Iranian ambassador to the UN,
so he could kill the whole General Assembly
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with poison gas.
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But reality is not directed by Tony Scott,
may he RIP, nor scripted by DC Comics.
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That is why today we will look at the complex
experiences that shaped Ruhollah Khomeini
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into becoming a leading Cleric, who went to
oppose the Emperor of Iran and become a revolutionary
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aged almost 80.
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We will also learn how his relationship with
Satan – America – was more ambiguous than
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both parties wanted us to believe.
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The cleric [TA2]
The man who would become known as the Ayatollah
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Khomeini was born Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi,
the youngest of six siblings.
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His date of birth is disputed, but we will
settle on the 24th of September 1902, and
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his place of birth was Khomeyn, a town in
what was then the Kingdom of Persia and later
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became Iran.
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Like the majority of the population in Iran
he was born into a family of the Shia Muslim
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faith, a family who claimed to be a descendant
from the prophet Mohammed.
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Ruhollah’s father Seyed Mustafa al-Shahid
al-Khomeini was a high-ranking cleric, bearing
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the title of Hojjat-al-Islam.
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Quick stop here, for some clarifications:
First of all, who are the Shias and what is
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the difference between them and the majority
Muslim sect, the Sunnis?
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These two factions share many spiritual beliefs
and religious practices, as their schism was
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political in nature.
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After the death of Mohammad in 632 his adviser
Abu Bakr became the first Caliph, or ‘successor
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of the Prophet’, tasked with leading the
Islamic nation.
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But his leadership was challenged by the followers
of Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law.
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This latter faction originated the Shia sect,
who believe that the leadership of the Islamic
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nation belongs to the direct descendants of
the Prophet.
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On the other hand, Sunni Muslims believe that
the leadership of the community is not a birthright:
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it can, and it must, be earned.
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Then, let’s look at religious titles[TA3]
: a mullah indicates a religious leader or
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a teacher in a madrasa, or religious school.
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The honorific title of Hojjat-al-Islam or
“Proof of Islam” is given only to high
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ranking scholars, who once progress to the
next level are addressed as Ayatollahs.
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And back to the story.
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When Ruhollah was very small, his father died.
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According to some sources he was still an
infant, according to CIA declassified documents,
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he was five years old.
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We also know for sure that Ruhollah’s father
was assassinated, but sources differ on the
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how: maybe the killer was a bandit, but the
CIA source claims that he was killed by a
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local governor for taking part in the so called
Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906[TA4]
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.[TA5]
Aged 16, Ruhollah had to experience another
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trauma when his mother died.
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The oldest of the siblings, his brother Mortaza,
then took charge of him and made sure that
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Ruhollah continued the family tradition by
studying in various Islamic schools.
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At nineteen, Ruhollah travelled to Arak, where
he studied religion under Ayatollah Abd al-Karim
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Ha’iri, a well-known Islamic scholar.
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In 1922 Ruhollah followed Ha’iri to the
Fayzieh madrasa in Qom, Iran’s intellectual
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centre for Islamic studies.
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Here Ruhollah distinguished himself in a variety
of studies which would shape his political
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career, including ethics, philosophy and law
– all subjects he would go on to teach.
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In 1932 Ruhollah married the daughter of a
prominent cleric from the capital Tehran,
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a marriage which gave him seven children,
two of which died in infancy.
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In 1937, his old master, Ayatollah Ha’iri’s
died.
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He continued to grow his reputation as a learned
scholar by becoming the assistant to another
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leading Ayatollah, Husayn Borujerdi.
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It was around this period that he started
to become known as Ruhollah Khomeini.
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Khomeini’s residence in Qom was mostly dedicated
to teaching and studying, but it may have
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been at this stage that he started to develop
a political concern.
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The mid-1930s were in fact the years in which
the Shah-an-sha, the King of Kings, Reza Pahlavi
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launched a series of reforms which could have
undermined the authority of the Shia clergy,
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such as opening the first university or emancipating
women, by demanding for their chadors, or
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veils, to be discarded.[TA6]
In 1944 Khomeini co-authored a book condemning
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the Shah, who by then had abdicated in favour
of his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
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But beyond that, we don’t have any other
anti-government activities on Khomeini’s
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record.
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The only thing we know for certain is that
throughout the 1940s and 1950s Khomeini continued
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teaching in Qom, becoming a nationally renowned
authority in Islamic jurisprudence.
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It wasn’t until 1962 that Khomeini would
raise his voice and become a scourge for the
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rule of the Shah.
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The Emperor[TA7]
The Shah-an-sha, or more simply the Shah,
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Mohammed Reza Pahlavi rose to power in 1941.
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His father Reza – just Reza, without the
Mohammed – had abdicated following a pre-emptive
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occupation of Iran by the UK and the USSR,
who wanted to prevent a German invasion.
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In the August of 1953 the Shah was forced
to flee by the supporters of Prime Minister
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Mohammad Mosaddeq.
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Minister Mosaddeq had successfully nationalised
oil production, which until now had been controlled
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by British companies.
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This of course did not make Britain happy,
who sought assistance from the US to remove
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Mosaddeq from power and reinstate the Shah.
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Formally, Pahlavi maintained the nationalisation
of oil production, but behind the scenes,
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he shared the profits with a US-led international
consortium.
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This is when the Shah became the strongest
ally of the US in the Middle East and central
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Asia.
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With the assistance of Washington the Shah
launched the ‘White Revolution’, a reform
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programme aimed at developing the Country’s
infrastructure.
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Most of all, this was a programme of modernisation
and Westernisation, which continued some of
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the work already started by Reza Sr.
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But nobody liked these reforms.
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Left-wing factions wanted more, they were
wary of the Shah’s dependence from the US
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and were angered by the unequal distribution
of oil revenues.
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The religious, conservative side criticised
the reforms for being too radical!
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You really cannot make everybody happy, can
you?
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But what brought everybody together in really
hating the Shah were the corruption in his
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government, his reliance on autocratic rule
and the power of the SAVAK – the feared
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secret police.
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As dissent escalated, so did the activities
of this sinister organisation, originally
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established, trained and funded with CIA support
as confirmed by a Senate Foreign Relations
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Committee report[TA8] .
At its peak the SAVAK had formally recruited
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15,000 agents[TA9] , many of whom also managed
informal spy networks, therefore permeating
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all of society.
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In the early 1960s both factions opposing
the Shah – the secular left and conservative
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clerics – who would have normally opposed
each other, started to coalesce and found
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an inspiring leader in Khomeini, who had by
now escalated ranks and had become an Ayatollah.
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By now more than 60, instead of retiring like
any of us would do, this respected religious
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scholar decided to risk everything to gain
centre stage in a budding revolutionary movement.
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Khomeini’s outspoken opposition to the Government
escalated from 1962 to 1963, with a series
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of speeches and pamphlets which denounced
the Shah’s latest proposed reforms, which
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included women’s suffrage and the opening
of public offices to the non-Shia Bahai minority.
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According to a de-classified CIA report these
activities were a concerted effort of the
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Qom mullahs.
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Khomeini, well, he was a kind of a schmuck,
a figurehead, who had been put in place because
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“The clergy … believed they could control
him and manipulate his operations”.
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On the early hours of the 5th of June 1963,
the SAVAK came knocking in Qom.
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Khomeini was arrested.
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It happened during the month of Moharram,
a holy period dedicated to mourning according
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to Islam.
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The outrage was immediate, resulting in widespread
riots with high casualties in the capital
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city Tehran and in the town of Shiraz.
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Was this in the mullahs’ plans?
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They wanted to make a puppet out of Khomeini
but they had created a martyr and a true revolutionary
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leader who would not let himself be controlled.
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In November 1963, while still under house
arrest, Khomeini did something unexpected,
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and certainly not in character with the commonly
accepted view of him being a rabidly anti-American
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leader.[TA10]
He sent a message to the US Government, using
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as a conduit Professor Kamarei from the theology
department at Tehran university.
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I am going to quote again from the same CIA
report:
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“Khomeini explained that he was not opposed
to American interests in Iran.
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On the contrary, he thought the American presence
was necessary [TA11] as a counterbalance to
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Soviet and possibly British influence.
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Khomeini also explained his belief in cooperation
between Islam and other world religions, especially
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Christendom”
What was Washington’s response?
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I’d like to tell you, but the next paragraph
… it has been redacted
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[TA12]
[suggested transition: zoom on the redacted
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block of text:]
[TA13]
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Would the US Government have been opened to
cooperating with the Ayatollah?
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Another CIA memorandum issued in November
1978 (sorry to jump ahead here) is doubtful
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of Khomeini’s leadership skills, suggesting
that he may not be capable of controlling
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the revolution he himself had sparked, with
the risk of either a leftist faction or a
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military dictatorship taking power over the
Shah.
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Combined with the other comment about him
being a puppet of the Qom mullahs … it sounds
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like the CIA and the Government in general
were seriously underestimating this guy.
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Whatever opinion the US Government had of
him, the Ayatollah continued his rise as leader
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of the opposition.
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After being released in April 1964 he resumed
his incendiary sermons against the Shah.
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By now Pahlavi had had enough and in November
he expelled the Ayatollah.
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The exile had begun.
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A Leader in Exile
Initially Khomeini settled in Turkey, from
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where he continued his vocal attacks on Pahlavi,
calling him a pawn of the US and of Israel.
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By 1965 the Turkish, they also had had enough
and begged the Shah to take him back, but
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Khomeini preferred to settle in the city of
Najaf, a centre of Shia scholarship in Iraq.
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It was here that Khomeini formulated his doctrine
known as velayat-e faqih[TA14] , or ‘guardianhsip
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of the jurist’.
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This concept marks a departure from Shia founding
principles: according to this doctrine, when
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the divinely inspired descendant of the Prophet
is absent, religious and political leadership
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of the community can be assumed by the faqih,
the jurist, the expert in Islamic law.
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Which is exactly what Khomeini was … so
basically he was saying, ‘it’s OK if I
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become the leader of Iran’.
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His absence from the country did not prevent
him from stoking dissent.
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The Ayatollah took to recording his sermons
on audio cassettes, which were then smuggled
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into Iran.
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By the way, if you are 20 or younger, an audio
cassette was a plastic recording support about
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the size of a Blackberry phone, that could
store up to 2 hours of music or speech on
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a magnetic tape.
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By the way, if you are 20 or younger, a Blackberry
phone was what your parents used to take calls
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from the office before they came to their
senses.
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[TA15]
And if you are 20 or younger and watching
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a 22-minute video about the Ayatollah Khomeini
… well done you!
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Where was I?
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The tapes.
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These tapes found fertile ground, especially
amongst the lower classes in the expanding
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urban centres and amongst university students,
regardless if left-leaning or aligned to the
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religious right.
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You may ask: what was his agenda[TA16] , exactly?
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Point a: The Ayatollah opposed the Shah’s
efforts to give equal rights to women;
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B: he opposed his land reforms, deemed ineffective
in feeding the population;
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C: he wanted to free Iran from foreign influence,
especially that of the US and USSR;
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D: he protested the inclusion of religious
minorities in positions of power, especially
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the Bahai;
E: Finally, Khomeini was a vocal critic of
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the state of Israel, whom he accused of manipulating
the Shah.
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Over the 1970s dissent against Pahlavi grew
in its intensity.
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Khomeini kept attacking him from Najaf and
the Shah may have taken his revenge … in
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1977 in fact Khomeini’s first born son,
Mostafa, died in mysterious circumstances.
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The death was due to a heart attack, but Khomeini
claimed that Mostafa had been killed by the
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Government.
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Return of the Cleric
In the late 1970’s Khomeini enjoyed a high
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standing amongst both conservative Muslims
and sympathisers of the Tudeh, the local communist
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party.
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When, on the 7th of January 1978 a state-controlled
newspaper questioned the Ayatollah’s patriotism
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and even his sexuality, protesters marched
in the streets of Tehran.
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The police fired on them and violence escalated.
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This marked the official beginning of the
Iranian Revolution[TA17] .
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For the following 13 months the police, the
armed forces and the SAVAK, faced protesters
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across the Country, killing them in the dozens
or hundreds.
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As customary in Shia Islam, each massacre
was celebrated by a mourning period of 40
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days, followed by demonstrations.
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Violence would erupt again and so on, in 40
days cycles, Iran spiralled into chaos.
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The Shah, who by now was suffering of late
stage cancer, had little resolve to address
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the situation.
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Meanwhile in Iraq, Khomeini continued to rally
the opposition – that is until Saddam Hussein
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finally expelled him from Najaf.
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The Ayatollah moved to the outskirts of Paris,
and from there, he planned his return as triumphant
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leader of the revolutionary struggle.
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00:14:04,470 --> 00:14:08,420
And apparently, it was from France that he
made his second attempt to seek an alliance
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or at least an understanding with the US.
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[TA18]
The aim of his messages was to reassure the
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US that a change of leadership in Iran would
not compromise their access to crude oil.
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In exchange, the Ayatollah asked the US government
to use their influence to hold back the Army
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from launching a coup.
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Did President Jimmy Carter comply?
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00:14:25,190 --> 00:14:26,200
This is not clear.
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00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,370
It is true that the military eventually did
not oppose the revolution, but this may have
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00:14:30,370 --> 00:14:31,690
been due to simple opportunism.
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00:14:31,690 --> 00:14:36,890
In January 1979, the Shah and his family left
Iran, officially to take a vacation, but in
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reality … this was a voluntary exile.
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On the 1st of February Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini returned to Tehran, welcomed as a
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victorious leader by the crowd.
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00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:51,050
Following a referendum, on the 1st of April
1979 Iran became officially an Islamic Republic
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and Khomeini became the Supreme Leader of
this Theocratic state.
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It was the end of more than 2000 years of
monarchy in Persia and Iran.
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The Guardianship of the Jurist
Before I continue with the momentous events
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of the 1980s, let me make an example of how
Khomeini now in power applied his doctrine
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of velayet-e faqih, the Guardianship of the
Jurist.
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00:15:16,670 --> 00:15:21,320
So, the new constitution[TA19] declared Shia
Islam to be the official religion of Iran,
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being the faith of 90 percent of the population.
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00:15:23,700 --> 00:15:28,620
It also acknowledges minority groups as official
religions, such as Sunni Muslims, Christianity,
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00:15:28,620 --> 00:15:33,230
Zoroastrianism, and even Judaism – surprising,
I know, considering Khomeini’s anti-Zionist
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00:15:33,230 --> 00:15:34,230
stance.
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00:15:34,230 --> 00:15:38,970
However, the constitution excluded the Bahai
faith, making it effectively illegitimate.
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00:15:38,970 --> 00:15:43,600
And this is not surprising, seeing how the
Shah’s pro-Bahai policy was one of the many
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00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,770
reforms that triggered Khomeini into joining
the opposition.
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00:15:46,770 --> 00:15:51,150
The Bahai religion formed as an offshoot of
Shia Islam in the mid-19th century, and it
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was viewed as heretical by senior mullahs.[TA20]
After the rise of Khomeini as supreme leader,
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up to 20,000 Bahai worshipers fled the Country
to avoid persecution, imprisonment or even
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00:16:02,380 --> 00:16:07,589
execution[TA21] . By May 1983 at least 150
Bahai men and women had been hanged or shot
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00:16:07,589 --> 00:16:09,370
by the revolutionary government.
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00:16:09,370 --> 00:16:15,089
The persecution of the Bahai is just an example
of the repressive nature of the Revolutionary
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regime.
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00:16:16,089 --> 00:16:19,589
First, his regime ousted from positions of
power the former secular allies.
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Then, it took political vengeance, with hundreds
of people who had worked for the shah’s
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00:16:23,460 --> 00:16:24,950
regime reportedly executed.
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00:16:24,950 --> 00:16:28,750
The remaining domestic opposition was then
suppressed, its members being systematically
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imprisoned or killed.
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00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,810
Iranian women were required to wear the veil,
Western music and alcohol were banned, and
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00:16:34,810 --> 00:16:37,720
the punishments prescribed by the Sharia,
the Islamic law, were reinstated.
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00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,980
A new armed force, the Pasdaran, would make
sure that all aspects of the Sharia would
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be strictly enforced.
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Their power has grown over time, becoming
a sort of parallel police, army and air force,
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with a strict focus on enforcing Sharia law
and defending the values of the Islamic revolution.
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00:16:52,160 --> 00:17:01,970
Had anything really changed since the times
of the SAVAK?
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00:17:01,970 --> 00:17:04,349
The Great Satan
The first years of a revolutionary government
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are the most delicate ones, but the Islamic
Republic survived two major trials, the US
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Embassy hostage crisis [TA22] and the war
with Iraq[TA23] .
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On the 22nd of October the former Shah was
allowed entrance into the US to be treated
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for cancer.
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00:17:17,069 --> 00:17:22,169
On the 4th of November, a mob of some 3000
protesters, mainly university students, stormed
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00:17:22,169 --> 00:17:26,480
the US Embassy in Tehran and took hostage
about 63 staff members.
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00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,110
What was Khomeini’s involvement in this
crisis?
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00:17:29,110 --> 00:17:33,200
Very little actually: the storming was a result
of a spontaneous demonstration, so he had
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00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,519
no idea it would take place and he could have
probably done without it … but once it started,
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00:17:37,519 --> 00:17:40,390
well he sort of got along with it and offered
support to the protesters.
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00:17:40,390 --> 00:17:44,529
It was in fact during the November of 1979
that he first started using in his speeches
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00:17:44,529 --> 00:17:50,879
his now infamous phrase to describe the US:
“Americans are the Great Satan, the wounded
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00:17:50,879 --> 00:17:53,379
snake”
But his government still had to negotiate
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with Satan.
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00:17:54,379 --> 00:17:58,580
Talks with the Carter administration dragged
on for months, with Iran demanding that the
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00:17:58,580 --> 00:18:02,679
Shah’s financial assets in the US be returned
to the Country, in exchange for the hostages.
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00:18:02,679 --> 00:18:07,110
The US, in reply, froze ALL of Iranian assets
and filed a lawsuit with the International
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00:18:07,110 --> 00:18:08,450
Court of Justice.
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00:18:08,450 --> 00:18:12,809
In April 1980 Carter’s administration authorised
a military rescue operation – which became
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00:18:12,809 --> 00:18:14,980
a failure before it had even started.
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00:18:14,980 --> 00:18:19,480
Eight Special Forces helicopters had stealthily
entered Iran, but when three of them malfunctioned
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00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:20,690
the mission was aborted.
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00:18:20,690 --> 00:18:24,999
Sadly, on the way back, one of the choppers
crashed, causing the death of eight servicemen.
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00:18:24,999 --> 00:18:27,659
The Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned.
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00:18:27,659 --> 00:18:30,389
As per Carter, his Presidency was doomed.
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00:18:30,389 --> 00:18:34,960
In May, the US and allies had imposed an embargo
on Iran, but the Government of Tehran still
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00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,890
played hardball in negotiations.
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00:18:36,890 --> 00:18:41,149
What tipped the scales was the 2nd calamity
that befell the young Republic: the start
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00:18:41,149 --> 00:18:45,230
of the war with Iraq, 22nd of September 1980.
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00:18:45,230 --> 00:18:49,559
Realising that Iran could not fight Saddam
in the chokehold of a trade embargo, Khomeini
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00:18:49,559 --> 00:18:52,769
agreed to release the hostages on the 20th
of January 1981.
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00:18:52,769 --> 00:18:58,200
The new US President, Ronald Reagan had been
inaugurated just 20 minutes earlier.
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00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:03,850
The crisis had been resolved, but it had lasted
too long not sour the already frosty relationship
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00:19:03,850 --> 00:19:06,279
between Iran and the US.
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00:19:06,279 --> 00:19:09,240
Their interactions would remain hostile up
to this day.
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00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:18,119
A deal with the Devil
For most of the 1980s, the Islamic Republic
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00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,869
had to contend with a bloody war against Saddam’s
regime.
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00:19:21,869 --> 00:19:27,999
The Iran-Iraq war, the longest of the XXth
century dragged on until July 1988, and it
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00:19:27,999 --> 00:19:33,020
combined horrors from both World Wars because
of its use of trench warfare, poison gas and
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00:19:33,020 --> 00:19:34,929
bombings on civilian targets.
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00:19:34,929 --> 00:19:39,380
The Iraqi’s war aim was to gain control
over the Shatt-el-Arab, the confluence of
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00:19:39,380 --> 00:19:42,850
the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, the only
access to the sea.
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00:19:42,850 --> 00:19:47,770
They also had in mind to stop the spread of
the Shia Islamic revolution into their Sunni,
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00:19:47,770 --> 00:19:48,770
secular state.
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00:19:48,770 --> 00:19:52,529
Khomeini’s regime could not field an army
as modern and mechanized as Saddam’s, who
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00:19:52,529 --> 00:19:56,059
could enjoy from the support of the US and
most Sunni Arab countries.
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00:19:56,059 --> 00:20:01,240
What they could offer was numbers and fanaticism:
thousands of boy soldiers were indoctrinated
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00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,369
by mullahs into launching suicidal human wave
attacks armed only with a plastic key[TA24]
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00:20:06,369 --> 00:20:11,279
– the key that would open the gates of paradise
after their death as martyrs of the Revolution.
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00:20:11,279 --> 00:20:14,470
But it turns out that human wave attacks do
not make strategic progresses.
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00:20:14,470 --> 00:20:19,940
Tehran was in dire need of more complex tactics
and weapons systems, namely: long range missiles.
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00:20:19,940 --> 00:20:24,220
Khomeini’s regime would procure them in
1985, in a way which shows how ambiguous and
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00:20:24,220 --> 00:20:30,750
confusing the US-Iran relationship were: the
resulting mess became known as the Iran-Contra
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00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:34,519
affair[TA25] .
Iran made the first step, with a secret request
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00:20:34,519 --> 00:20:38,350
to Washington to buy up to 1500 long range
missiles.
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00:20:38,350 --> 00:20:41,730
President Reagan and his National Security
Advisor Robert McFarlane saw a chance to kill
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00:20:41,730 --> 00:20:45,809
two birds with one stone: first, grasp the
occasion to negotiate with Iran the release
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00:20:45,809 --> 00:20:50,659
of seven Americans taken hostage by the Hezbollah,
the Lebanese Shia fighters loyal to Khomeini;
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00:20:50,659 --> 00:20:55,419
second, make some cash through the arms sales
to fund the Contras anti-communist insurgents
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00:20:55,419 --> 00:20:58,450
in Nicaragua.
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00:20:58,450 --> 00:21:02,199
Along the way, Reagan and McFarlane killed
another bird, called “American rule of law”
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00:21:02,199 --> 00:21:06,630
– their actions violated the trade embargo
on Iran, violated the Presidential promise
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00:21:06,630 --> 00:21:12,330
not to negotiate with terrorists and violated
the recently passed Boland amendment which
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00:21:12,330 --> 00:21:15,440
forbade the government from intervening in
Nicaragua.
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00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:27,409
The last two years
But let’s get back to the war.
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00:21:27,409 --> 00:21:31,649
Even with their new missiles the Iranians
were not able to break the frontline.
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00:21:31,649 --> 00:21:32,970
The war ended in July 1988.
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00:21:32,970 --> 00:21:33,970
Its result?
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00:21:33,970 --> 00:21:36,460
A costly stalemate.
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00:21:36,460 --> 00:21:42,309
Between half a million and a million dead,
half a million of invalid soldiers, 400 billion
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00:21:42,309 --> 00:21:46,740
dollars of damaged infrastructures … for
almost no gain.
338
00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:51,610
Saddam in the end got his outlet to the sea,
only to return it to Iran in 1991 in exchange
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00:21:51,610 --> 00:21:54,460
for their neutrality during the 1st Gulf War.
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00:21:54,460 --> 00:21:58,299
But actually, Khomeini and his regime had
gained something from the conflict, albeit
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00:21:58,299 --> 00:21:59,299
immaterial.
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00:21:59,299 --> 00:22:04,379
The total war against an ethnically Arab,
Sunni, Secular enemy had consolidated the
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00:22:04,379 --> 00:22:09,799
resolve and institutions of the young Revolutionary
government in a country that was non-Arab,
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00:22:09,799 --> 00:22:10,870
Shia and theocratic.
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00:22:10,870 --> 00:22:15,639
Only a few months after the end of the war,
in February 1989 the Ayatollah Khomeini made
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00:22:15,639 --> 00:22:20,739
headlines again when he issued a fatwa against
writer Salman Rushdie, accusing him of tainting
347
00:22:20,739 --> 00:22:23,440
the name of the Prophet Mohammad in his novel
the Satanic Verses.
348
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,239
A fatwa is a legal document issued by a mullah,
which in this case carried a death sentence
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00:22:28,239 --> 00:22:30,909
against the writer – and a monetary reward.
350
00:22:30,909 --> 00:22:34,139
Salman Rushdie was forced to live into hiding
and to seek police protection.
351
00:22:34,139 --> 00:22:36,909
Khomeini’s condemnation of the Satanic Verses,
though, was short-lived.
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00:22:36,909 --> 00:22:41,750
Four months later, on the 4th of June 1989,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died, regarded
353
00:22:41,750 --> 00:22:47,330
as a hero or condemned as the ultimate villain,
both outside and within his country.
354
00:22:47,330 --> 00:22:52,179
His reputation as a ruthless leader, who would
not refrain from harming, exiling or killing
355
00:22:52,179 --> 00:22:55,139
opponents to achieve his goals is certainly
well-deserved.
356
00:22:55,139 --> 00:22:59,460
But isn’t that true of so many leaders around
the Globe?
357
00:22:59,460 --> 00:23:03,453
And wasn’t that true for the Shah Pahlavi
himself, or Saddam, or the rulers of Saudi
358
00:23:03,453 --> 00:23:09,809
Arabia - and yet they did and still have the
support of America and the West.
359
00:23:09,809 --> 00:23:14,600
Khomeini did open to America in at least two
occasions- and he may have been ignored or
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00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:15,600
underestimated.
361
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,970
On the other hand the Iran-Contra affair could
have been the occasion to thaw the frost.
362
00:23:19,970 --> 00:23:23,400
But it seems like Khomeini’s ill-advised
decision to back the protesters during the
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00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:28,429
hostage crisis had made the relationship with
America impossible to mend.
364
00:23:28,429 --> 00:23:33,259
Now, Professor Mahmood Sariolghalam [TA26]
of Theran University espouses a geopolitical
365
00:23:33,259 --> 00:23:38,409
theory according to which America and Iran
should not antagonise each other, as Tehran
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00:23:38,409 --> 00:23:42,940
is THE natural ally for the US in the region
– a foothold in this country would provide
367
00:23:42,940 --> 00:23:45,820
access to central Asia, the Gulf and its resources.
368
00:23:45,820 --> 00:23:50,379
It was the case in the past and who knows,
it may happen again in the future.
369
00:23:50,379 --> 00:24:11,470
But at least for the past 40 years, US and
Iranian foreign policy seem to have missed
370
00:24:11,470 --> 00:24:20,549
a trick.
38223
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