Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

KHOMEINI, RUHALLAH MUSAWI AL • 355calendar) in which at least 300 people were killed by security forces.Khomeini was arrested and exiled to Turkey in early 1964. A yearlater Khomeini moved to Najaf, a Shi’ite shrine city in Iraq, wherehe was able to gather some of his clerical and lay followers abouthim and where he kept in contact with supporters within Iran throughvisiting Iranian pilgrims. From 1964 to 1978 he developed a networkof supporters within Iran and wrote his dissertation on Islamic government,Hokumat-I Islami: Vilayat-i Faqih (Islamic Government: TheGoverning Role of the Scholar of Religious Jurisprudence), whichbecame the guiding theory for the revolution that he led and for theIslamic Republic that he subsequently established in Iran.A vituperative attack on Khomeini published in November 1977by the semiofficial Iranian daily Ittila’at triggered protests in Tabrizin which police killed several demonstrators. This in turn led to a nationwideround of demonstrations linked to 40-day cycles of mourningfor the “martyrs” in which all sources of opposition to the rule ofthe shah participated, including secular nationalists and leftists. Eachdemonstration led to more clashes with police, more “martyrs,” andconsequently even more and larger demonstrations, which eventuallyevolved into a national revolution to overthrow the shah in whichKhomeini’s charismatic leadership and personal network played amobilizing and dominating role.Khomeini had been forced to leave Iraq for France in late 1978 dueto protests by the shah’s government over his agitation from Najaf.Khomeini settled briefly in Neauphle-le-Château in November 1978,where he held court with both his followers and Western journalists.Khomeini returned to Iran on 1 February 1979 only after the shahwas forced to depart, leaving a transitional government in the handsof Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiyar, whose legitimacy Khomeinirefused to acknowledge. Following the collapse of the shah’s governmenton 11 February 1979, a transitional period ensued in whichliberal nationalists, leftists, and subnational secessionist groupssought to gain political advantages, while Khomeini’s Islamic fundamentalistssought to consolidate control over government institutionsand through their own ad hoc revolutionary institutions, such as theIslamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Later, when liberalnationalists within Iran’s Constituent Assembly, which had assembledto write a new constitution, opposed codification of the principleof Vilayat-i Faqih within the new constitution, Khomeini concluded