• IMAM KHOMEINI’S EXILE FROM TURKEY TO IRAQ:
On the 13th Mehr, 1344 (Oct, 13, 1965) His Holiness Imam Khomeini accompanied by his son Ayatullah Haj Agha Mustafa were sent from Turkey to their second place of exile, in Iraq. Explanation of the motives and causes for this transfer cannot be given in this brief work. These were mainly: the constant pressures of the religious community and the theologic assemblies and the efforts and actions by foreign muslim students for the Imam’s freedom, the attempts of the Shah’s regime to show the conditions of the country being normal and show its power and stability, to appease America and obtain more support; the mental and security problems presented by Turkish government; increased intertnal pressure by Turkish religious community, more important than all, the Regime of Shah’s thinking that the silent and anti-challenge atmosphere in the Najaf area and the condition of the government ruling in Baghdad, all were obstacles that limited Imam Khomeini’s activities.
Upon arrival in Iraq, Imam Khomeini went on pilgrimage to the holy shrines of the Infallible Imams in Kazemain, Samarra and Karbala. A week later he moved to his residence in Najaf. The tumultuous welcome of Imam by tile people in these cities indicates that, contrary to what the Regime of Shah had imagined, the message of the Imam’s 15th of Khordad uprising had indeed found supporters in Najaf and all over Iraq too. The brief talk of the Imam with the representative of Abdul-salam Aref, President of Iraq, and the declination of a proposed Radio and T.V. interview by the Imam, proved from the beginning, that he is not a person who would make a scapegoat of his divine challenge to the ruling regimes of Baghdad and Tehran. This fast and stable policy was pursued by the Imam during his entire stay in Iraq, and for this reason Imam Khomeini is indeed a rare world political leader, who, even at the height of political difficulties and pressures, did not enter in any political intrigues or collusions that were customary, nor did compromise on his ideals and principles. When strifes between Iraq and Iran were at peak the showing of a minor green light by the Imam, would make available to him, all kinds of possibilities to fight the Shah. Not only he didn’t do that, rather, at this very time he was fighting in two fronts simultaneously, and at several stages, be advanced to the point of engaging the Baghdad regime in heated skirmishes. Without a doubt, if it were not for the Imam’s intelligence, the Islamic Revolution would end up where other Iranian movements, political fronts and parties had often landed, and would terminate in dependence and defeat.
The long 13-year period of Imam Khomeini’s stay in Najaf, started in conditions, when seemingly there was no direct pressure and limitations as hard as there was in Iran and Turkey, but the opposition and obstructions and taunting by the face-to-face enemy and even by the pseudo-clergy and the worldly men hidden in religious vestments, was so widespread and harmful that the Imam, inspite of his well known patience, had, several times, recalled and mentioned its bitterness. However, none of these hardships and difficulties could dissuade the Imam from the path which he had chosen with awareness. He knew, beforehand, that talking about challenge and uprising in that atmosphere was pointless. He knew he had to start from the same point as he had taken in Iran and in the Qum Assembly long before the 15th Khordad uprising, that is, with gradual reform and change of conditions and training a generation who could comprehend his ideals and message. Therefore, Imam Khomeini began his Lecture teachings in jurisprudence, in Aban, 1344 (November, 1965), inspite of all obstacles and oppositions, in the Sheikh Ansari Mosque in Najaf, and continued these classes until his migration to Paris, France. Imam Khomeini’s firm fundamentals in (Fiqh) jurisprudence and Principles and his proficency in Islamic sciences was such that after a short time, inspite of all the impediments, his teaching classes came to be known as the most outstanding theologic Assemblies of Najaf both qualitatively and quantitatively. A large number of clergy students of Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, India and countries of the Persian Gulf area attended his teaching lectures daily. Those attached to the Imam from Iranian theologic Assemblies wanted to make callective migration to Najaf, but desistecl at the recommendation of the Imam, that, it was necessary to keep the theologic assemblies in Iran, active. However, a large number of those deeply attached to Imam Khomeini had alredy reached Najaf and, gradually, a center of revolutionary figures who believed in the path of the Imam was formed in Najaf, and it was this group that undertook the responsibility of relaying the Imam’s fighting messages, in those years of strangulation.
As soon as he arrived in Najaf, by sending letters and couriers, Imam Khomeini, maintained his contact with fighters in Iran, and at each opportunity, called on them to resist and remain steadfast in pursuing the objectives of the uprising of 15th Khordad. It is a wonder that in many of these letters, clear indication of an imminent, socio-political explosion in Iran, was given and the society of Iranian clergy was called upon, to get ready to assume responsibilities in the guidance of the Iranian society in the near future. Those predictions were made at a time when, apparently, there was no hope for changing the conditions, as the Shah’s Regime, more powerful than before, had broken up every resistence.
The Shah’s darkest period of police rule, began with the exile of Imam Khomeini and severe suppression of opponents. Savak was the tool and instrument of absolute power, so much so, that the hiring of a minor employee, in the most distant spot had to be confirmed by the Security Organization (Savak). Of the three Constitutional Powers, nothing but a name remained. The Shah, personally, with a few male and female courtiers had every thing in hand. However, the confessions of the Shah in his last book and interview and the writings of members of the Pahlavi family, those of army generals and the Regime’s authorities that were published after the fall of monarchy in Iran, and the documents that were available in the American Embassy, all make it impossible to doubt that the Shah and the Court were only tools and agents, with no will of themselves and that the activities and current affairs of the Court and the Regime, and even the appointment of cabinet ministers, army generals and legislation bills all were decided and written out in American Embassy in Tehran and sometimes in the British Embassy. Here, we will do with only two cases of confession by the Shah; he has written: “....American and British ambassadors told us, at any meeting we had: “We shall support you”. During the fall of 1978-79 they encouraged me to develop an extremely open political atmosphere.... wherever I received American diplomats or emissaries, they invariably suggested that, I should remain firm and resist, but when I asked the American Ambassador about this, he said he had nor received such instructions....several weeks before when I received the new CIA representative in Tehran, I was amazed at the tritenes of his words. For a moment, we spoke of the open political atmosphere, and I observed a smile on his face... anyhow, those who were our faithful friends for years, had other amazing surprises reserved for me...”
It is interesting to note that, in this book, the Shah has tried to ascribe the fall of his regime to such meaningless surprising factors. He has stated: that, general Rabii, chief commander of the Air Force, before his execution had told the Judges: “General Howzer threw the Shah out of the country like a dead rat!” Although such saying is the distortion of history, and per documentary evidence available, and, more telling than all, are the confessions of Howzer himself in his own book, that he had come to Tehran to save the fading monarchy in critical conditions and arrange a coup d’etat and not for throwing out the Shah. But, assuming such a claim be accepted, the Shah, contrary to the title he had chosen for his book, he had not provided history with an answer,- that inspite of such claims like “Sleep, 0! Cyrus! for, We are awake!”,- how has he treated the independence of his country during his 37 years of reign,-that a second rank American general after a couple of days stay in Tehran is able to throw him out like a dead rat,??!!
At any rate, after suppression of 15th of Khordad uprising and deportation of Imam Khomeini, he saw no obstacle before him. The country was in such a condition that tile Court women were dismissing and appointing the ministers, House deputies and the judges. Ashraf Pahiavi, sister of the Shah whose moral scandals and leadership of narcotic smugglers, were reflected even in the foreign press, had been called the “Jack of all trades” of the Court. The appointment of the son of a Bahaii by the name of Amir Abbas Hovaida, whose keyword was “Devotee to your Majesty”, and who headed, the puppet cabinets for 13 years, meant that the Constitutional Power and “democracy” did not exist in the country even on the lowest levels.
The Shah was trotting on four horses towards the imaginary Grand civilization, or Modernization, a civilization whose pillares were based on promotion of foreign culture, promotion of prostitution, on pilferage of national resources by hundreds of American and European firms, ruining the relatively independent agricultural structure of Iran, making productive elements of the population to move to city suburbs, as idle consumers and workmen, development of non-essential, dependent, assemblage industries, equipment of bases for eavesdropping, and spying by American military cadres in Iran and the Persian Gulf area, at the expense of the Iranian nation.
Between the years 1970-1977, only, about 26.4 milliard dollars of oil money was spent on importing military hardware from America. For the year 1980, alone, the Shah had ordered l2milliard dollars worth of military equipment from the U.S.A. which, per white House policy were essentially and only, meant to be spent on protection of American interests in the sensitive Persian Gulf area. The management and utilization of these armaments was assigned to 60 thousand American advisors, exclusively.
At the height of his stability, when the Shah had no foreign pressure or problem, he produced 6 million burrels of oil per day, while the Iranian population at that time was below 33 millions and the price of oil, for reasons such as the Arab-Israel war, the struggle of the West to horde and store more and more, to combat probable oil boycotts, and the closer unity of the oil-producing Islamic countries, had passed 30 dollars a barrel. Yet, inspite of all this, many of the basic highways of Iran lacked asphalt and a great part of the country was without electricity and first aid medical facilities. Even while the 2500-year Iranian monarchy was being celebrated, and heads of states from all over the world had come to attend the related ceremonies, tens of thousands of the Iranian productive force had converged on the peripheries of the Capital city of Tehran in hutments and tin-towns, South of Tehran airport and other locations to the south, east and west of the metropolis, as loafers, idle workmen and unemployed stranded men, living under dire conditions.
The sight of wide spread tin-towns (halabi-abad) presented such an eerie spectacle that during the festival mentioned above, the Regime concealed them from the sight of foreign guests by painted walls so that these signs of the “grand civilization” may not be seen. At the time of the festival of the 2500-year monarchy many boroughs in the south and west of Tehran still lacked wholesome drinking water and each several hundred families had to get drinking water from a single water main or faucet. In the year 1355 (1976) illiteracy rate was 52.9% for population of 7 years of age and up. When the Shah fled from the country in 1357 (1978), 15 years had passed since the implementation of the White Revolution and American style reform, and during this period, inspite of haphazard production and sale of oil and other resources and support by foreign governments, not only Iran could not escape dependency, rather, each day the country became more and more dependent on foreigners economically, agriculturally and industrially, and along with this, dire economic conditions, general poverty and inequity increased. Politically, the Shah had turned Iran into a most dependent country on the West, particularly on America.
In the entire period following his deportation, inspite of countless difficulties, Imam Khomeini did not relent his challenge and by his speeches and writings, he kindled the light of hope for victory in the hearts. On the 27th Farvardin 1346 (4/16/1967), in an address to the theologic assemblies, the Imam wrote: “ I assure you gentlemen, and the Iranian nation, that the Regime will meet defeat; their forefathers were slapped by Islam... they, too, will be slapped... Stand firm; do not submit to oppression; they shall be gone, and you shall remain... These dull and borrowed swords shall be put back into their sheaths!” On this day Imam Khomeini wrote an open letter to Amir Abbas Hovaida, the Prime Minister, in which, he recounted the tyrannic acts of the Regime and warned him regarding the conduct of the Shah vis-a-vis the Islamic governments, in the following words: “Do not enter into pacts of brotherhood with Israel, this enemy of Islam and the Muslims who has turned more than one million Muslims homeless. Do not hurt the feelings of the Muslims. Do not extend any more, the hand of israel, and its treacherous agents, into the markets of the muslims. Do not threaten the economy of the counnry for the sake of Israel and its agents. Do not sacrifice the culture for whims and desires... Beware of the anger of God. the anger of the nation... “Verily, your Lord is watchin. (26) The Shah did not mind the Imam’s warnings. Although the Muslim countries were on the threshold of war with Israel, Israeli goods, enjoying special privileges, had a very good market in Iran, and all kinds of Israeli produce, such as eggs, fruits, chicken, food staples, were on Iranian markets, at prices lower than internal products.
In a message dated 17/3/1346 (= June 7, 1967), on the occasion of the 6-day war between Israel an the Arabs, Imam Khomeini issued a revolutionary message interdicting any kind of political and commercial relation with israel and the consumption of Israeli goods in Islamic communities. This decree was a damaging blow to the expanding relations of the Shah with Israel. The Iranian Ulema and clergy students, by issuing announcements, placed the Shah’s regime under )ressure. The Regime took revenge by raiding Imam Khomeini’s house in Qum, pilfering all his books and documents, and by raiding the Islamic schools in Qum and ransacking the works and pictures of the Imam. During this raid, Imam Khomeini’s son, Hojjatul-Islam Haj Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini, and Hojjatul-Islam Haj Sheikh Hasan Saneii and the late Ayatullah Islami-Torbati (The Imam’s canonical Proxy), were arrested. Their efforts and that of other revolutionary supporters had frustrated the Savak, in its hope to cut off sending the Imam’s stipend and the lawful monies of the people, to their refrence authority. Sometimes before this, Hojjatul-Islam Haj Seyyed Ahmad Khomeini, who had gone to Najaf to receive the Imam’s messages and orders re administration of activities of the Imam’s House in Qum, on return, early in 1346, was arrested at the border by the Shah’s security agents, and was imprisoned at the Qazil Qalae penitentiary for some time. During these years, the Savak’s major effort was made to sever the connection of the Imam with his followers in Iran, and to prevent the remittance of his stipend. Meanwhile the efforts of Imam’s canonical proxies such as Mr.Islami Torbati, Haj Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq Tehrani (Karbaschi) and Ayatullah Pasandida (Imam’s elder brother), which, inspite of the Regime’s threats, arrests and deportations, were continuously carried on, as well as the activities of the Imam’s family, or (ahl-e bayt) in Qum, that had been recognized as the core of the 15th Khordad uprising, and was administered by the son of Imam, all these were major obstacles to the realization of the Regime’s objectives. Savak was very sensitive to revival of Imam’s name and his remembrance and likewise, to the activities of his family in Qum, so much so, that for a period of 4 years, it had stationed police and security agents, from morning until few hours past sunset and the residence of Imam’s family (Ahl-e Bayt) was under close control, preventing the frequentation of Imam’s followers to the place, and yet, even in these years, at midnight hours, the Imam’s supporters would get together in the house, after the agents had left, and handled the business relating to contacts between the Imam and the people. At this time (Khordad 1346) the intention of the Regime to transfer the Imam from Najaf to India was thwarted by the revelations and efforts of the struggling internal and external political groups.
With the coming to power, in Iraq (July 17, 1967), of the Baath Party, and its animosity with Islamic moves, further obstacles appeared before the Movement of Imam Khomeini. But His Holiness did not relent his challenge. His sojourn in Najaf, and more of the Islamic world in the Arab-Israel war presented an opportunity to Imam Khomeini to pose and discuss his ideals on a much wider scale which meant the revival of faithfulness and belief, in an anti-religious era, and the recovery of Islamic grandeur, identity and unity. It was not limited to challenging the Shah in Iran.
On 19th Mehr, 1347 (= Oct 9, 1968) Imam Khomeini in a talk with the representative of Al-Fat’h Organization of Palestine described his view points about the problems of the Islamic world and the crusade of the Palestinian people. During this interview, the Imam decreed the necessity of allocating a portion of religious alms funds to Palestinian fighters.
Early in 1348, the dispute between the Shah’s Regime and the Baath Party of Iraq over the river borderline, heightened. The Iraqi Regime expelled from Iraq, in dire conditions, a large number of Iranian residents of that country. The Baath Party tried hard, in these conditions, to take advantage of Imam Khomeini’s enmity with the Iranian Regime. On the other hand, the Shah sought the least available opportunity and excuse to present a distorted picture of the integrity of the Imam’s Movement. But Imam stood up to and resisted the intrigues very wisely. Ayatullah Haj Agha Mustafa Khomeini made formal delivery of the Imam’s message, opposing the deportation of the student-clergies and other Iranians, and rejecting any compromise between his holiness and the Baath Party in Baghdad, to Hasan Al-Bakr, Iraqi President, and others who were present at the meeting.
On 30th Murdad 1348, a part of the Masjidul Aqsa was burnt down by the extremist Zionists. The Shah, who was under pressure by public opinions, proposed to pay the expenses of reparation, and so, he came to assist Israel and, thus, to palliate the anger of the Muslims. In a message the Imam revealed the ruses of the Shah, and made a counter-proposal: “As long as Palestine is not freed, the Muslims should not repair the said mosque. Let the crime of Israel remain exposed to the Muslims and be a cause for a move to liberate Palestine.”
Four years of teaching, effort and enlightenment by Imam Khomeini had somewhat changed the atmosphere of Najaf theologic assembly. Now, in the year 1348, in addition to countless internal challengers, there were very many people in Iraq, Lebanon and other Islamic lands who considered Imam Khomeini’s movement as their adopted mode of action. Imam Khomeini began the series of his lessons about Islamic government or the guardianship of the jurisconsult, in Bahman, 1348. The publication of a compendium of these lessons in book form, entitled “Walayat-e-Faqih” or “Islamic Government” In Iran and Iraq, and in Lebanon during the Haj season, imparted fresh sensation to the challenge. In this book, the outlook of the challenge and the objectives of the Movement were drawn up, and the jurisprudential (fiqh) and intellectual fundamentals, and principles of Islamic government or rule, and theoretic arguments related to the ways and modes of Islamic government, were posed and discussed by the leader of the Revolution.
In april 1970 (Ordibehesht 1349) the American press, announced the coming to Iran, of a group of the most prominent American capitalists headed by Rockeffeler. They came to study the return of Iranian oil revenues to America, revenues that were on the increase from this year on, and the mode of participation of U.S. corporations in this spread tablecloth. Although from months before, the Savak had announced many of the clergies attached to Imam Khomeini, forbidden to lecture or preach, yet, the pro-Imam Khomeini dedicated elements, who were delighted after studying the opinions of the Imam, re Islamic rule, began revealing and opposing further extension of American influence in the country. Ayatullah Saeedi was one of the most ardent supporters of Imam Khomeini. In April 1970 he was arrested and, after 10 days of savage torture by agents of Savak, was martyred in the Qazil Qalah prison. In a message, Imam Khomeini, praised his challenge and said: “Ayatullah Saeedi is not the only person who succumbs to torture in the corner of a prison!” This message also reveals: “Prominent American specialists and capitalists have invaded Iran, aiming at the strangulation of this nation in the name of the largest foreigu investment... Any agreement entered into, with American capitalists or with other colonialists, is against the wishes of the Iranian nation and the decrees of Islam.”