Word: khomeini
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Even worse in Khomeini's eyes was the fact that the liberals had spoken cravenly against some of the clerical regime's previous policies, including its obstinate prosecution of a war that cost Iran an estimated 350,000 lives. In case anyone doubted his aims, Khomeini told the clerics, "As long as I am here, I will not let the government fall into the hands of the liberals. As long as I am alive, I will never stop cutting off the hands of agents of the U.S. and the Soviet Union...
Another target was Khomeini's designated successor, Ayatullah Ali Montazeri, 64, who recently acknowledged that Iran's revolutionary leaders erred in isolating their country from the rest of the world. Khomeini was deeply offended by such talk. Dismissing the views of those who regard "martyrdom and self-sacrifice" as "worthless," he declared last week, "I formally apologize to the ((families)) of the martyred . . . and ask God to accept me next to the martyrs of the imposed war." He added, "We are not for a moment sorry for our actions during...
Tehran radio reported that the Iranian parliament fully supported Khomeini's policy of "keeping aloof from the Great Satan," the U.S., and "cutting relations with colonialist Britain." One of the Tehran regime's leading hard- liners, Premier Hussein Mousavi, accused the West of "cultural conspiracy" and declared that "Iran's firm decisions on the ((Rushdie)) issue will ensure the country's independence and dignity." Small wonder that the best-known pragmatists had run for cover...
Muslim anger surfaced elsewhere, fueling American and British fears for the safety of their hostages. In Lebanon, two related pro-Iranian Shi'ite organizations, Hizballah and Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, both believed to be holding Western hostages, endorsed Khomeini's threat. Islamic Jihad issued a vow to seek revenge against "all those who take part in strong and ferocious campaigns against Islam." The statement was accompanied by a Polaroid photograph of the three American hostages, Alann Steen, Robert Polhill and Jesse Turner, who were kidnaped from the campus of Beirut University College more than two years...
...said, "Until the threat of murder by contract is lifted, all authors should declare themselves as coconspirators. It is time for all of us to don the yellow star and end the hateful isolation of our colleague." In a grander flight of moral outrage, Mailer told the crowd, "Khomeini has offered us the opportunity to regain our frail religion, which happens to be faith in the power of words and our willingness to suffer for them...