← Section III (Peace and Conflict): Conflict in the Gulf 1980-2011
Who was Ayatollah Khomeini and how did he shape Iran's role in the conflicts of the Gulf?
The role of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, including his exile, his return in 1979, the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, his conduct of the Iran-Iraq War, and his foreign-policy legacy after his death in 1989
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf dot point on Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. His clerical formation, exile from 1964, the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, the return on 1 February 1979, the founding of the Islamic Republic, the conduct of the Iran-Iraq War 1980-88, the 1988 prison executions and the Rushdie fatwa, and his death on 3 June 1989.
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What this dot point is asking
NESA expects you to explain the role of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in shaping the Islamic Republic and its conduct of the Iran-Iraq War. Strong answers integrate his clerical formation, his exile, the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, his return and consolidation in 1979, his wartime leadership, the 1988 prison executions and the Rushdie fatwa, and his death in 1989.
The answer
Origins
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.
Khomeini studied at the seminary in Arak from 1920, then moved with his teacher Sheikh Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi to Qom in 1922. He emerged in the late 1930s as a teacher of irfan (mysticism) and akhlaq (ethics).
Khomeini's first political work, Kashf al-Asrar (Discovery of Secrets, 1944), defended the Shia clerical role in politics. Under his teacher Grand Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi (until Borujerdi's death in 1961), Khomeini remained quietist as required by the senior clerical line.
The 1963 confrontation
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.
Khomeini delivered his famous Ashura sermon at the Faiziyeh seminary on 3 June 1963, denouncing the Shah by name. He was arrested on 5 June 1963. Protests in Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Isfahan were suppressed with hundreds killed (the "15 Khordad uprising"). Khomeini was released in April 1964.
In November 1964 he denounced the Status of Forces Agreement that granted US military personnel immunity from Iranian law. He was arrested again and exiled on 4 November 1964, first to Turkey, then in October 1965 to the Iraqi Shia centre of Najaf.
Exile and the Najaf lectures
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.
The argument:
- During the occultation of the twelfth Imam, political authority must be exercised on behalf of the Hidden Imam.
- The legitimate authority is the qualified Islamic jurist (faqih) with combined religious knowledge, justice, and political competence.
- The fuqaha have the same political authority as the Prophet and the Imams.
The doctrine was a radical departure from traditional quietist Shia thought.
The 1977-78 revolution
When the Shah pressured the Baath Iraqi government to expel him on 6 October 1978, Khomeini moved to Neauphle-le-Chateau outside Paris.
From Paris, Khomeini gave more than 150 interviews and gave speeches recorded by his aides Ebrahim Yazdi, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, and Abolhassan Bani-Sadr. The recordings were flown to Tehran and replayed nationally.
Return and consolidation
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.
The 30-31 March 1979 referendum produced 98.2 per cent for an Islamic Republic. The December 1979 constitution made Khomeini Supreme Leader (Rahbar) for life.
Khomeini did not take a formal office but exercised supreme authority from his residence in Jamaran. His disciples (Ali Khamenei, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Beheshti) operated the regime.
Conduct of the Iran-Iraq War
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.
The decision that defined Khomeini's war was the June 1982 rejection of ceasefire. After Iranian forces recaptured Khorramshahr on 24 May 1982, Saddam offered withdrawal to the international border. Khomeini refused.
On 14 June 1982 the Supreme Defence Council voted to invade Iraq. Khomeini's stated war aim became "the overthrow of the Saddam regime." The pious slogan was "the road to Jerusalem runs through Karbala." The decision committed Iran to six more years of war and around half a million additional dead.
By 1988 the war was unwinnable. Iraqi chemical weapons, the recapture of al-Faw (17 April 1988), and the missile attacks on Tehran had broken Iranian morale. Khomeini accepted UNSCR 598 on 18 July 1988. His statement compared the acceptance to "drinking the poisoned chalice."
The 1988 prison executions
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.
Death commissions in prisons across Iran questioned political prisoners briefly and executed those deemed unrepentant. Estimates of those killed range from 2,800 to 5,000+. The killings included long-serving prisoners.
The Rushdie fatwa
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.
Rushdie went into hiding for nine years under British police protection. His Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi was murdered in 1991; his Italian translator was stabbed; his Norwegian publisher was shot.
The fatwa internationalised the Islamic Republic's confrontation with the West.
Death and succession
Khomeini died at his Jamaran residence on 3 June 1989 aged 86. His funeral on 6 June 1989 drew an estimated 10 million mourners.
The Assembly of Experts met on 4 June 1989 and chose Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader. The constitution was amended on 28 July 1989 to remove the requirement that the Supreme Leader be a marja, allowing Khamenei to assume the office.
Legacy
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).
Timeline
| Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Born in Khomein | Origins |
| 3 June 1963 | Faiziyeh sermon | Open opposition |
| 4 Nov 1964 | Exiled | Long exile begins |
| 1970 | Najaf lectures | Velayat-e faqih |
| 1 Feb 1979 | Returns to Iran | Revolution triumphs |
| 4 Nov 1979 | Endorses hostage seizure | Moderates defeated |
| 14 June 1982 | Decision to invade Iraq | War prolonged |
| 18 July 1988 | Accepts 598 | "Poisoned chalice" |
| July-Aug 1988 | Prison executions fatwa | 5,000+ killed |
| 14 Feb 1989 | Rushdie fatwa | Internationalisation |
| 3 June 1989 | Death | Khamenei succeeds |
Historiography
Baqer Moin (Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah, 1999) is the major Persian-source biography.
Vanessa Martin (Creating an Islamic State, 2000) on the political theology.
Ervand Abrahamian (Khomeinism, 1993) on the populist-religious doctrine.
Ray Takeyh (Guardians of the Revolution, 2009) on Khomeini's foreign policy.
How to read a source on this topic
Sources on Khomeini commonly include the 1 February 1979 Mehrabad arrival photograph, the Behesht-e Zahra return address text, his Hokumat-e Eslami lecture notes, the Rushdie fatwa text, and his "poisoned chalice" statement of 20 July 1988.
First, note the language. Khomeini wrote in classical Shia idiom. The "Great Satan" for the US, "Munafiqeen" for the MEK, draw on Koranic vocabulary.
Second, distinguish the public Khomeini from the operating Khomeini. His public statements were uncompromising; his operating decisions (accepting 598, Iran-Contra) showed pragmatism.
Common exam traps
Treating velayat-e faqih as traditional Shia thought. It was Khomeini's innovation.
Forgetting the 1988 prison executions. They are central to evaluating Khomeini's domestic policy.
Misreading the 1982 decision. The rejection of ceasefire was Khomeini's, not consensus.
In one sentence
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, exiled from Iran in November 1964, developed the doctrine of velayat-e faqih in his 1970 Najaf lectures, returned to Tehran on 1 February 1979 to found the Islamic Republic, prolonged the Iran-Iraq War through his June 1982 decision to invade Iraq at a cost of half a million additional Iranian dead, accepted UN ceasefire Resolution 598 as a "poisoned chalice" on 18 July 1988, ordered the prison executions of around 5,000 political prisoners in summer 1988 and the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie on 14 February 1989, and died on 3 June 1989 to be succeeded by Ali Khamenei.
Past exam questions, worked
Real questions from past NESA papers on this dot point, with our answer explainer.
Practice (NESA)15 marksEvaluate the role of Ayatollah Khomeini in the conflicts of the Gulf 1980 to 1989.Show worked answer →
Needs criteria, dated evidence, judgement.
Thesis. Khomeini was the single most consequential individual in late-20th-century Gulf politics. His revolution removed the Shah, his doctrine of velayat-e faqih institutionalised clerical rule, his rejection of compromise prolonged the Iran-Iraq War from 1982 to 1988, and his international rhetoric set Iran's permanent confrontation with the West.
Background. Born 1902 in Khomein. Trained in Qom under Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi.
Exile. Arrested in June 1963 for speeches against the Shah's White Revolution; exiled to Turkey in November 1964, then Najaf (Iraq), then Neauphle-le-Chateau (France) in October 1978.
Velayat-e faqih. Khomeini's 1970 Najaf lectures (published as Hokumat-e Eslami) argued that government should be exercised by qualified Islamic jurists.
The return. Khomeini flew from Paris to Tehran on 1 February 1979. The Constitution of December 1979 named him Supreme Leader for life.
Hostage crisis. Khomeini endorsed the November 1979 US embassy seizure to consolidate clerical power against moderates. Bazargan resigned 6 November 1979.
The Iran-Iraq War. Khomeini's most consequential decision was the rejection of Saddam's June 1982 ceasefire offer. The decision to invade Iraq converted defensive war into eight years of Iranian human-wave attacks and Iraqi chemical defence. Half a million Iranians died.
Repression. The 1981-82 destruction of the MEK; the 1988 prison executions of around 5,000 political prisoners after Khomeini's fatwa following the Forough Javidan MEK incursion.
Rushdie fatwa. On 14 February 1989 Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses.
Death. 3 June 1989, aged 86. Succeeded by Ali Khamenei.
Conclusion. Defining figure; war was prolonged because of his choices; legacy of permanent confrontation.
Practice (NESA)6 marksExplain the doctrine of velayat-e faqih and its application in the Islamic Republic of Iran.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark "explain" needs three or four developed elements.
The doctrine. Velayat-e faqih ("guardianship of the jurist") is a Shia theory of government formulated definitively by Ruhollah Khomeini in his 1970 Najaf lectures (later published as Hokumat-e Eslami). Khomeini argued that during the occultation of the twelfth Imam, executive religious-political authority should rest with the most learned Islamic jurist.
Innovation. The doctrine was marginal in Twelver Shia thought before Khomeini. Traditional quietist Shia clerics rejected direct clerical political rule.
Constitutional application. The December 1979 Iranian constitution named Khomeini Supreme Leader (Rahbar) for life with sweeping powers: commander of the armed forces, declaration of war, appointment of judiciary. The Supreme Leader sits above the elected president and parliament.
Succession. Khomeini was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989. Khamenei's relatively junior clerical rank required constitutional amendments. The Assembly of Experts chooses the Supreme Leader.
Markers reward 1970 Najaf lectures, Hokumat-e Eslami, and the Khamenei succession.
Related dot points
- The origins and consequences of the Iranian Revolution 1979, including the fall of the Shah, the role of Ayatollah Khomeini, the hostage crisis, and the impact on regional and superpower politics
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf dot point on the Iranian Revolution 1979. The fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic, the US embassy hostage crisis, and the strategic shock to the Gulf and the superpowers.
- The course and consequences of the Iran-Iraq War 1980 to 1988, including its origins, the phases of the war, the use of chemical weapons, the War of the Cities, the Tanker War and superpower involvement, and the UN ceasefire of 1988
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf dot point on the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein's invasion of 22 September 1980, the Iranian counter-offensive of 1982, the trench-warfare stalemate, the War of the Cities, the Tanker War, chemical weapons, the USS Stark and USS Vincennes incidents, and the UN Resolution 598 ceasefire of 20 July 1988.
- The role of Saddam Hussein, including his rise to power, the nature of the Baathist regime, the cult of personality, the repression of the Kurds and Shia, and his decisions for war in 1980, 1990 and 2003
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