write and tape messages demanding the overthrow of the
shah. His followers in Iran, growing in number, devoured his
messages. They declared themselves loyal to him and eagerly
awaited his return.
Throughout this period of exile, Khomeini was virtually
unknown outside the region. Even to people in other Middle
Eastern countries, he was at most an obscure Muslim leader. It
is difficult to find a mention of his name in books on Iranian
history and affairs published before 1979, the year he burst into
the spotlight of world news.
Although he became Iran’s foremost religious leader—never
its official head of government—Khomeini is remembered as
one of the most famous and forceful figures in Middle East
politics. He has been ranked with leaders such as Israel’s Prime
Minister Menachem Begin, Jordan’s King Hussein I, Egypt’s
President Anwar el-Sadat, and Libya’s Colonel Muammar
al-Qaddafi.
The story of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is a story of Shiite
Islam’s evolving impact on the modern world, for he became
Shiism’s most eminent speaker. And it is a story of Khomeini’s
long-time antagonist, Shah Pahlavi. Khomeini’s career as a
revolutionary was built entirely on his opposition to the Pahlavi
government. The Iranian people saw in these two men rival
characters of epic proportions: Pahlavi an unjust, corrupt tyrant
and Khomeini their avenger and guiding light.
Essentially, though, the story of Ayatollah Khomeini is the
story of the Iranian Revolution. Of the many voices raised to
condemn the Pahlavi regime during the 1960s and 1970s,
Khomeini’s commanded the masses. When he attained his life-
long objective after years of protest from exile, Iranians gave him
complete authority to forge whatever new government he
wished. His new government has been, by every account, a force
to be reckoned with, not only in the Middle East but worldwide.
Even now, fifteen years after his death, life and government in
Iran are based largely on the stern vision of Ayatollah Khomeini.
An Astonishing Transition in Power 5