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Section III (Peace and Conflict): Conflict in the Gulf 1980-2011
Quick questions on Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic: HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf
14short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is origins?Show answer
Ruhollah Mostafavi Moosavi Khomeini was born on 24 September 1902 in Khomein. His father was murdered in 1903. The family had clerical descent claiming ancestry to the seventh Imam, Musa al-Kadhim.
What is the 1963 confrontation?Show answer
The Shah's "White Revolution" reforms (announced January 1963) included land reform, female suffrage, and the secularisation of the legal system. The Shia clerical establishment opposed all three.
What is exile and the Najaf lectures?Show answer
In Najaf (October 1965 to October 1978) Khomeini taught at the seminary and developed his political theology. The series of lectures in January-February 1970, published as Hokumat-e Eslami: Velayat-e Faqih, set out the doctrine.
What is the 1977-78 revolution?Show answer
When the Shah pressured the Baath Iraqi government to expel him on 6 October 1978, Khomeini moved to Neauphle-le-Chateau outside Paris.
What is return and consolidation?Show answer
Khomeini flew home on an Air France 747 on 1 February 1979 with around 120 journalists aboard. He was met by millions at Mehrabad airport. He appointed the provisional government under Mehdi Bazargan on 5 February. The army declared neutrality on 11 February.
What is conduct of the Iran-Iraq War?Show answer
Saddam Hussein's invasion of 22 September 1980 forced Khomeini's hand. Rejecting all compromise, Khomeini mobilised the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard, founded May 1979) and Basij (volunteer militia, founded November 1979) for total war.
What is the 1988 prison executions?Show answer
Days after the ceasefire decision, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) launched the Forough Javidan operation. Khomeini issued a fatwa (late July 1988) calling for the execution of imprisoned MEK members "who remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin." A second fatwa extended this to Marxists.
What is the Rushdie fatwa?Show answer
On 14 February 1989 Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of British novelist Salman Rushdie for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses. A 3-million-US-dollar bounty was offered.
What is death and succession?Show answer
Khomeini died at his Jamaran residence on 3 June 1989 aged 86. His funeral on 6 June 1989 drew an estimated 10 million mourners.
What is legacy?Show answer
Khomeini's legacy: - The Islamic Republic as a permanent regional power and US adversary. - Velayat-e faqih as a working political-religious doctrine. - A foreign policy of confrontation with the US, Israel, and the Sunni Gulf monarchies. - Three decades of regional shadow war (Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia parties, Houthi forces).
What is historiography?Show answer
Baqer Moin (Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah, 1999) is the major Persian-source biography.
What is treating velayat-e faqih as traditional Shia thought?Show answer
It was Khomeini's innovation.
What is forgetting the 1988 prison executions?Show answer
They are central to evaluating Khomeini's domestic policy.
What is misreading the 1982 decision?Show answer
The rejection of ceasefire was Khomeini's, not consensus.