Word: imam
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...suppressed an instinct to curse and "looked like a man who had been kicked in the pants." The cable mentioned nothing about the hostages and referred to the commission as though Banisadr was expecting it to hold a trial. Said the Iranian cable: "Now that the demand of the Imam Khomeini and the Iranian nation has been conceded regarding the convocation of a court of inquiry and investigation into the past American intervention in Iran's internal affairs, [the commission] may come to Iran...
...service to Islam became a main theme in Karmal's diplomatic overtures toward Iran. He fired off a telegram to "Gracious Brother, Most Reverend Imam," the Ayatullah Khomeini. Karmal's message almost reverently appealed for an Afghan-Iranian revolutionary entente based on "Islamic brotherhood" and a shared hostility toward "American world imperialism-the No. 1 irreconcilable enemy of all the people of the world." Karmal promised that his government "will never allow anybody to use our soil as a base against Islamic revolution in Iran"-adding that "we expect our Iranian brethren to resume a reciprocal stance...
...Khomeini had cold-shouldered for several weeks, was rising in his esteem again. Said one insider of the clerical Establishment: "Council members have agreed on the need to distinguish between firmness and rashness. The students should not be allowed to think they are the only reliable interpreters of the Imam's wishes and ideals." That development was mildly encouraging to some Administration officials, who feel that some moderate members of the council are eager for a resolution of the hostage situation. Still, cautioned a White House source, "there is no feeling that anybody in the Revolutionary Council is ready...
...emphasizes martyrdom; thus many Iranians are receptive to Khomeini's speeches about what a "joy" and "honor" it would be to die in a war with the U.S. Beyond that, Shi'ism allows for the presence of an intermediary between God and man. Originally, the mediators were twelve imams, who Shi'ites believe were the rightful successors of the Prophet Muhammad; the twelfth disappeared in A.D. 940. He supposedly is in hiding, but will return some day to purify the religion and institute God's reign of justice on earth. This belief gives Shi'ism a strong messianic cast...
...notably, a sense of having been divinely ordained to guide and govern Iran. Marvin Zonis, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, notes that the Ayatullah "has more titles now than the Shah ever had: Savior of the Generations, Defeater of the Oppressors, Imam of the Age." Zonis believes , that the Ayatullah and the Shah "are a lot alike as leaders. Neither is particularly intelligent, but each is shrewd and cunning. Each is determined to impose his views on the Iranian people. Khomeini is ending up the same kind of ruler that the Shah...