Word: ayatullah
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...show up at the U.N. six hours earlier than scheduled to hear Clinton's speech and--with Annan's help--to jump from 39th to 4th in the speaking order, so that Clinton would not have to wait long to reciprocate. A true thaw in relations frozen since AYATULLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI's 1979 Islamic Revolution may have to wait until after Khatami's re-election battle next May--if then. Nonetheless, Iranian and U.S. officials told TIME that last week's exchanges signaled improved mutual understanding. "We hold no fundamental animosity," explained a senior U.S. official. Commented Annan aide GIANDOMENICO...
...front of him like a giant Persian carpet: turbans, signs, balloons. He speaks to thousands, delivering the scrupulously worded message of moderate change that has made him a hero to many--and a terrifying figure to the hard-liners who have dominated Iran's politics since the death of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Khatami's struggle to reform Iran is proving a dangerous task. One of the President's closest friends is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, nearly assassinated by hard-liners. Dozens of other supporters are in jail or heading there. Iran's hard-liners...
...most revered scholar, absolute, God-given authority to govern Iran. Considering that legacy, political reformers avoid challenging it directly. But dissident clerics began questioning the dogma after Khomeini's death, an action that put some 500 mullahs in prison or under house arrest, including the most senior critic, Ayatullah Hossein Ali Montazari, once Khomeini's designated successor. Conservatives are worried that democracy will disembowel velayat-e faqih--and the clerical establishment along with it. "If this debate is not resolved," warns Eshkevari, "the Islamic Republic will run into a dead...
...democratic foundation accepted by the people." To make that happen, Iran's conservatives are loosening up--a bit. Islamic courts are allowing limited coverage of proceedings--most notably in the trial of 13 Jewish Iranians accused of spying for Israel. Despite sanctioning the press crackdown, spiritual leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei--successor to Khomeini--has warned religious militants against thuggery and publicly praises Khatami--as if cautioning security forces against a coup. But Khamenei rejects any vision of freedom that threatens Islam's position in power. "As long as I live," he warned in a recent Friday sermon, "I will...
...Eventually you are driven into a barricaded neighborhood protected by bearded militiamen and hustled into an apartment block with mirrored windows. Wallets, key chains, and even belts are removed from you and taken away for inspection. Finally you are seated in a room dominated by an acrylic painting of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini. At the far end is Hizballah's yellow banner, the words "Islamic Revolution of Lebanon" written in Arabic beneath the silhouette of a holy warrior's rifle...