Word: khomeini
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...than 6 in. apart, and they are advancing rapidly in tree-lined squares toward the perimeter of the 1.5-sq.-mi. cemetery. Aluminum-and-glass display cases contain photographs of the dead, many of them teenagers, along with family heirlooms. Most also bear a picture of the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, the octogenarian who guides Iran's side of the bloody campaign, as he does every other facet of life in Iran...
...perhaps the greatest irony of all is that despite these harsh realities, Khomeini remains a revered, inspirational figure for Iran's masses. There are rumblings of discontent, but there seems no serious challenge to his conservative Shi'ite theocracy. There is little question either that the Islamic Republic will survive, if not flourish, after his death. The explanation lies in the application of a skillful mix of repression, which is being eased somewhat as the regime gains confidence, and the presenting of Islam as a unifying and controlling element in what remains a loose and still evolving political structure. "People...
...Imam, as Khomeini is now called, towers over Iran with all the power and prestige of Darius, one of the most famous of the pre-Islamic Persian kings. Khomeini's image is everywhere, painted in oils and hung in heavy frames in hotel lobbies and government buildings and vacant lots, and festooned in glossy photographs over thousands of martyrs' graves. Even his sayings are etched in brass and copper and hung in frames or daubed in paint on the sides of buildings. WHOEVER FIGHTS AGAINST THE TRUTH SHALL BE DEFEATED is one such framed homily, hanging in the baggage hall...
Although he is 85, Khomeini still regularly receives visitors at his modest but heavily guarded villa in the capital's northern suburbs. Even dignitaries must follow the procedure of removing shoes and sitting cross-legged in his presence. And while the twelve-man guardian council is constitutionally the state's supreme decision-making body, the Imam is without question the ultimate authority on everything from religious doctrine to the conduct of the war against Iraq. "He is more powerful than the Shah ever was," says an East bloc diplomat. "He sits very close to God in the eyes of most...
...have not been cowed or shorn of their natural bellicosity and are thus still suspect to many of the regime's leaders. They voice their criticism of the regime relatively freely, if privately. They crack jokes about the clergy, often at the expense of Ayatullah Hussein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini's heir apparent, who is regarded as pious but simple. "The clerics are making a mess of the economy," says a businessman who complains bitterly about the shortage of foreign exchange. "They should stick to preaching and let us run the economy...