Word: ayatullah
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...scene, Khomeini faces far tougher tasks than rousing the people to fury against an unpopular autocrat. The Ayatullah has announced that he will set up a new revolutionary council for Iran. In so doing he risks a coup by an army whose generals, if not its soldiers, remain loyal to the Shah. He must pick up the numerous strands of opposition, united only in reverence for him and hatred of the monarch, and hold them together long enough to form a functioning government. It is a lot to expect from a spiritual leader wise in Koranic lore but woefully unskilled...
...again, off-again preparations for Khomeini's return began to take definitive shape early last week. Prime Minister Bakhtiar reopened Iran's airports, which had been closed solely to prevent the Ayatullah from coming back. Khomeini's representatives in Paris hurriedly chartered a jumbo jet from Air France, settled insurance terms and agreed that the plane would fly only half full. Thus if it were not allowed to land in Tehran, there would still be enough fuel aboard for a return flight to Paris. Because of fears of sabotage, no Iranian women or children were allowed on the flight (though...
...that you continue the struggle with me," he told them. Before departing, he thanked the French government for its hospitality and the French people "who have followed with interest the struggle for freedom of conscience and the way of democracy desired by all clear-minded Iranians." Annoyed by the Ayatullah's rejection of their pleas that he not use French soil to foment revolution in Iran, officials in Paris were quite happy to see him go. Would Khomeini be welcomed back if he had to go into exile again? Said one ranking diplomat dryly: "We certainly wouldn't object...
Along the 150 members of the international press aboard Khomeini's flight was TIME Correspondent Bruce van Voorst. "Shortly after takeoff, the Ayatullah climbed the spiral staircase to the jumbo jet's lounge section, removed his turban and sandals, curled up on several Air France blankets and slept for 2½ hours," reported van Voorst. "His personal security guard, suffering from a toothache and numb from aspirins, sat at the bottom of the steps. At sunrise, somewhere over Turkey, the Ayatullah said prayers, then was served an omelet for breakfast. When the captain announced that the plane had flown into Iranian...
Inside the terminal, the Ayatullah was instantly surrounded by 1,000 or so members of a welcoming committee shouting, "Allahu akbar!" (God is great). Praising all those who had suffered for the revolution, from the clergy to bazaar merchants to workers and students, Khomeini lashed out immediately at the Shah and his supporters, who "destroyed our culture and turned it into a colonial culture." Then came an ominous touch: "We are only victorious when we can cut the hands of the foreigners from our lands. The agents of the foreigners who are trying to cheat our interests must know that...