Word: montazeri
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Khomeini's illness has focused new attention on the question of his successor. Since he fired his appointed heir, Ayatullah Ali Montazeri, 65, in March, the spotlight has turned to Khomeini's son Ahmed, 43, who has been increasingly visible lately. The extent of Ahmed's influence became more apparent last week, when a 110-page memo surfaced in which he accused Montazeri of disloyalty. Khomeini the younger, however, must contend with powerful Parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who last week emerged from a visit with the Ayatullah to declare, "God willing, we will see the Imam for long...
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...
...widespread prediction that the hostilities would not cease until he died. In the end, precisely the opposite may prove to be true. His departure is almost certain to open a period of political turmoil in Iran, with prolonged jockeying for position by, among others, Rafsanjani and Ayatullah Hussein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini's designated successor. Iranian leaders may have realized that the old man alone possessed the power to extricate Iran from the war. "It was vital for Khomeini to move now," said a U.S. intelligence analyst. "After his death, there would be nobody with the authority to pull...
Whatever combination of forces was at work, they came to a head on July 16. That evening, according to U.S. intelligence sources, there was a meeting in Tehran of senior political officials, including Montazeri, Rafsanjani, Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and Ahmed Khomeini, the Ayatullah's eldest son. With Montazeri providing crucial support to Rafsanjani, his rival, the group decided to recommend that the elder Khomeini agree to the cease-fire. The next day they convened again and received what Rafsanjani described as a "historic and important decision of the Imam," presumably similar to the message later read on Iranian...
Iranian leaders took turns denouncing the misdeeds of the "arch-Satan" America. President Seyed Ali Khamene'i called the downing of the aircraft "one of the biggest crimes of the war," while Ayatullah Hussein Ali Montazeri, designated successor to Spiritual Leader Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, advocated sabotage "on American financial, political and military targets everywhere." Khomeini urged his people to "go to the war fronts and fight against America and its lackeys." Both Khamene'i and Khomeini, however, seemed just as intent on redoubling efforts against Iraq as denouncing America...