Word: ayatullah
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...families tried to get out, but as the first contingent of 61 arrived at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at 5:30 a.m. one day last week, a gang of Iranian militants blocked their way. Revolutionary authorities offered assurances that the evacuees would be released this week. But Ayatullah Ali Meshkini, one of his country's leading mullahs, warned that the incident could result in the French embassy being "taken over"; and the French humiliated the same way that Iran had "rubbed America's nose in the dirt."* To Americans, the series of events stirred painful memories...
...plane was Colonel Behzad Moezi, one of Iran's most accomplished pilots and a man with a remarkable background. He flew the Shah into exile in January 1979. But after growing sympathetic to the revolution, he returned to Iran and joined the Mujahedin. Suspected by the Ayatullah's entourage, Moezi in effect was grounded until war broke out with Iraq. Reinstated with the help of Banisadr, Moezi had flown more combat missions than any other Iranian pilot...
Both men proclaim faith in an Iranian republic that will be Islamic and democratic. They hope to galvanize an anti-Khomeini crusade like the Ayatullah's final campaign against the Shah. "We can overthrow Khomeini within a few months," boasts Rajavi...
Banisadr believes the chances for the success of his resistance movement are high because popular opposition to Khomeini's regime is spreading fast. He is convinced that the people no longer honor Khomeini as their religious leader. He notes with pleasure that the Ayatullah tried to mobilize mass demonstrations before the French embassy in Tehran after his escape and managed to muster only 5,000, a pittance compared with the hundreds of thousands who used to turn out. Even more encouraging, he feels, the intelligentsia are siding with the resistance and so are the armed forces. Those...
Since he arrived in Paris, Banisadr has insisted that he has no intention of renouncing his title and responsibilities as Iran's President. He reminds supporters that he originally offered his resignation to Khomeini but that the Ayatullah refused to publish it and instead chose to outlaw him. If he had been allowed to withdraw legally, Banisadr claims, he would have represented a dangerous rallying force against Khomeini. Rather than allow that, Khomeini tried to suppress him altogether...