Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

354 • KHOMEINI, RUHALLAH MUSAWI ALended its investigation on 1 November 1996 due to the lack of cooperationof Saudi officials, who appeared unwilling to share informationthat might reveal the extent of dissent among the subjects ofthe kingdom. On 22 May 1998 the interior minister of Saudi Arabia,Prince Nayef ibn Abdul Aziz, stated that the bombing was the workof Saudi nationals and did not involve a foreign power.As of April 2000 intelligence had been developed that indicated aSaudi group that enjoyed Iranian state sponsorship, known as Hezbollahin the Hijaz, was responsible for the bombing. On 21 June2001 the U.S. Department of Justice charged 13 Saudi nationals andone unnamed Lebanese collaborator with the attack on the KhobarTowers, among them the Saudi Hezbollah commander, Adbul KarimMuhammad Hussain al Nasser, for whose capture the U.S. StateDepartment’s Rewards for Justice Program is offering a $5 millionbounty. In June 2007 William Perry, who was U.S. secretary ofdefense at the time of the attack, stated that although he had believedthat Iran was behind the attack, in retrospect he now thought it wasmore likely to have been the work of al Qa’eda.KHOMEINI, RUHALLAH MUSAWI AL (1902–1989). Under AyatollahKhomeini’s leadership, Iran became a state sponsor of terrorismin the name of fighting the influence of the United States andIsrael in both Iran and the rest of the Middle East and also in the nameof exporting the Islamic revolution. Khomeini was also a leadingtheorist of Islamic fundamentalism and has had an impact on theaspirations and actions of Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims worldwide.Khomeini’s involvement in politics began in 1942 with the publicationof his Kashf al Asrar (The Unveiling of Secrets), in whichhe denounced the secularist programs of Reza Shah, the first Pahlaviking who had been deposed by invading British and Soviet forces inlate 1941.During 1963 Khomeini began agitating against Muhammad RezaShah Pahlavi, the son of Reza Shah, who had begun to undertake amodernization and social reform program required by the John F.Kennedy administration as a precondition for U.S. military aid to Iran.Khomeini attacked the status of forces agreement signed between Iranand the United States required for U.S. military aid as a “capitulationist”treaty violating Iranian sovereignty. These speeches led to nationwiderioting on 5 June 1963 (15 Khordad 1342 in the Persian solar