Word: ayatullah
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...grim executions took place following renewed calls by Khomeini for a strict adherence to Islam and a purge of all forms of corruption. The 80-year-old Ayatullah had launched the campaign two weeks ago with an impassioned speech apologizing for the "incompetence" of his regime, which he said had "done nothing for the people." He particularly criticized certain officials in the government of President Abolhassan Banisadr. At the same time he demanded that "all traces of the former regime be obliterated...
Banisadr, meanwhile, seems powerless to deal with the country's problems, mainly because of ruthless political opposition from fundamentalist mullahs led by Ayatullah Seyyed Mohammed Beheshti, president of the Supreme Court. Defending himself against his critics, Banisadr bitterly complained that he could "not fight on ten different fronts" and announced that he had given Khomeini a standing letter of resignation to act on whenever the Ayatullah sees fit. Says a senior government official: "Banisadr is trying in vain to convince Khomeini that he should allow him to govern. But Khomeini is suspicious of anyone who does not wear...
With that five-minute trial, Ayatullah Sadegh Khalkhali, Iran's notorious "hanging judge," dispensed summary justice to five more accused drug traffickers. In just six weeks, Khalkhali's firing squads have executed 120 convicted opium and heroin dealers...
...mountain village of Jamaran, two miles north of the capital, the corridors of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini's modest house buzzed like a beehive. Turbaned mullahs, ostensibly come to congratulate the Ayatullah on the anniversary of Mab'ath, the day God chose Muhammad as his Prophet, seized the occasion to denounce their enemies and advance their respective causes. The byzantine scene prompted one local observer to remark, "The place reeks of conspiracy...
Though Khomeini cited no names, he was clearly alarmed by the bitter power struggle between moderate President Abolhassan Banisadr and hard-lining Ayatullah Seyyed Mohammed Beheshti, the leader of the clergy-dominated Islamic Republic Party. Behind their personal rivalry lay opposed visions of government: Beheshti and his fundamentalist allies seek total power in a single-party theocratic state. Banisadr and fellow moderates like Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh want a modern, pragmatic government within an Islamic revolutionary framework; they are especially eager to shore up an economy reeling under 50% inflation, 30% unemployment and drastically declining oil production...