Word: khomeini
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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They clashed with a group of Azerbaijanis who had made a pilgrimage to Qum to see Sharietmadari. Pro-Khomeini guards fired into the air and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Later, an unidentified sniper killed one man guarding Shariet-madari's house. Subsequently, an Iranian soldier was killed and nine people injured...
...march by 30,000 Sharietmadari followers in Tabriz, the capital of Azerbaijan province, and the march quickly turned into a full-scale revolt. The insurgents seized control of government buildings, the governor's mansion and the local headquarters of the national radio and television station. They sent Khomeini's officials fleeing with the admonition: "You return, you die!" The rebels were joined by local units of the Iranian army and air force and the police, in both Tabriz and the nearby towns in the rugged mountains of the western part of Iran, near the borders of Turkey...
...Khomeini also reacted cautiously, pleading that Iranians cease fighting among themselves and concentrate "on the confrontation with the U.S." But he acted quickly to forestall trouble in the province of Kurdistan, to the south of Azerbaijan. The 4 million Kurds, who revolted unsuccessfully against Tehran's rule last summer, had boycotted the referendum too. Late last week Khomeini's revolutionary guards that were supposed to pull out of Kurdistan stayed on. The Ayatullah also faces potential trouble among Iran's other minorities, particularly the Baluchi tribesmen in the southeast, Turkomans in the northeast and the Arabs...
Another problem facing Khomeini is the declining state of the Iranian economy. Nationalization of banks, insurance companies and large industrial firms has caused virtual chaos. About a third of the country's work force is unemployed, and inflation is running at 40%. Nonetheless, support remains strong for Khomeini and the principles of Iran's Islamic revolution...
Republicans were more outspoken. Said John Connally: "I am sure that Ayatullah Khomeini is pleased to hear Senator Kennedy's remarks." George Bush felt that the statement "might endanger the lives of the hostages" and raises "serious questions about Kennedy's judgment on foreign policy." Press comment was strongly unfavorable and occasionally stinging. The Washington Post: "It wasn't right, it wasn't responsible, and it wasn't smart." The Atlanta Constitution: "Kennedy, in a cynical campaign ploy against the incumbent President who cannot respond, has publicly sided with the Khomeini anarchy in Iran...