D
uring its first decade as an Islamic republic, Iran experienced
complex changes. Some had little to do with the revolution.
For example, the population was becoming increasingly urban.
This trend had begun years before, as thousands of farmers and
villagers, facing unrelieved hardships in their rural lifestyles,
began moving to cities in quest of better conditions. It was hardly
an improvement; many of the newcomers found themselves
living in deplorable shantytowns. Their plight was worsened by
overpopulation—a social trend that Khomeini encouraged.
Iran’s population mushroomed from fewer than 40 million when
Khomeini assumed power to almost 70 million in mid-2003.
Naturally, the average age of Iranians is low; approximately half
are younger than twenty.
At the same time, many rural peasants found opportunities in
the tumultuous aftermath of the revolution. They literally seized
control of much of the land from its original owners. The revo-
lutionary government was indecisive in dealing with the resulting
violence. After the Majlis in 1980 passed a property redistribution
measure, religious leaders—including Khomeini—questioned its
legality according to Qur’anic doctrine. They had parts of the
land law nullified. Local revolutionary committees, or komitehs,
assumed authority over many farming operations.
Khomeini’s ideal of a Muslim-run, nationalistic government
system was defined only vaguely. The new leader was a theorist, not
a practical administrator. This had been obvious to reporter Elaine
Sciolino, one of the journalists who interviewed him in France
shortly before his return to Iran. Khomeini, she later wrote, “didn’t
have a master plan for the future. Rather, with the help of his aides,
he improvised. Day by day, ideas were formulated, assignments
were given, committees were appointed. His answers about what
his government might look like evaporated into an Islamic mist as
he called himself the symbol of the people.”^46
To confuse matters further, Khomeini sometimes reversed
himself. In late 1983, he stated publicly that he was not above
making mistakes. “I may have said something yesterday, changed
it today, and will again change it tomorrow.”^47 Author Daniel
A Troubled Decade 69