Ayatollah Khomeini: Exile, Revolution, and Legacy

Few moments in modern history feel as sharply divided as the day a frail, black-turbaned cleric stepped off an Air France plane in Tehran and into the heart of a revolution. That day—1 February 1979—marked the end of 14 years in exile for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the beginning of a new Iran.

Born: 17 May 1900, Khomeyn, Iran · Died: 3 June 1989, Tehran, Iran · Role: First Supreme Leader of Iran (1979–1989) · Funeral attendance: Estimated 10 million · Exile duration: 14 years (1964–1979)

Six facts, one pattern: Khomeini’s biography moves from obscurity to global influence through a single lever — exile.

What was Ayatollah Khomeini known for?

• Architect of the 1979 Iranian Revolution (BBC News)
• First Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• A Shia marja’ (grand ayatollah) and influential theologian (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Role in the Iranian Revolution

Khomeini’s leadership from exile turned him into the unifying figure of a fragmented opposition. From his base in Najaf, Iraq, and later Neauphle-le-Château, France, he recorded and distributed cassette tapes calling for the overthrow of the Shah. When the Shah fled on 16 January 1979, Khomeini returned to Tehran on a chartered Air France jet, met by crowds that Britannica estimates at over a million (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Establishment of the Islamic Republic

Within two weeks of his return, the monarchy fell on 11 February 1979. Khomeini appointed Mehdi Bazargan as interim prime minister on 4 February and oversaw a referendum that established the Islamic Republic in April. He became the first Supreme Leader, a position that placed him above the elected government and gave him control over the military and judiciary (Brookings Institution).

Shia clerical leadership

As a marja’ — a “source of emulation” — Khomeini held the highest clerical rank in Twelver Shia Islam. His doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) argued that clerics should rule directly, a radical departure from centuries of Shia political quietism (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The implication: his clerical authority became the legal shell for a new kind of theocratic state.

Why was Ayatollah Khomeini exiled from Iran?

• Exiled in 1964 after denouncing the Shah’s White Revolution (BBC News)
• Lived in Turkey, Iraq, and France (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Returned to Iran on 1 February 1979 (RFE/RL)

Criticism of the Shah’s reforms

The catalyst was Khomeini’s condemnation of the White Revolution — a package of land reform, women’s enfranchisement, and modernization that the Shah pushed in 1963. Khomeini called it a “satanic” project that endangered Islam. His arrest in June 1963 sparked protests that left hundreds dead. The following year, after a fresh denunciation of a law granting diplomatic immunity to US military personnel, the Shah had him arrested and flown into exile (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Exile to Turkey, Iraq, and France

Khomeini spent a brief period in Bursa, Turkey, then settled in Najaf, Iraq, where he taught and wrote for 13 years. In 1978, the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein pressured him to leave. He moved to Neauphle-le-Château, a village near Paris, where he set up a media operation that broadcast his message to Iran. The exile lasted 14 years (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Return in 1979

On 1 February 1979, Khomeini boarded an Air France flight to Tehran. RFE/RL reported an estimated five million people lined the route from Mehrabad Airport to Behesht-e Zahra cemetery (RFE/RL). He went directly to the cemetery to honor the “martyrs” of the revolution, marking the beginning of the Dahe Fajr (Ten Days of Dawn) celebrations (Belfer Center).

What religion was Ayatollah Khomeini?

• Shia Muslim (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Twelver Ja’fari school of jurisprudence (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Marja’ (source of emulation) for millions of Shia (BBC News)

Shia Islam

Khomeini was a devout Shia Muslim, belonging to the Twelver branch, which believes in twelve Imams from the Prophet Muhammad’s lineage. His theological training began in Khomeyn and continued in Qom, Iran’s main Shia seminary center. He achieved the rank of ijtihad in his 30s, enabling him to issue independent legal rulings (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Twelver Ja’fari school

Within Shia Islam, Khomeini followed the Ja’fari school, named after the sixth Imam, Ja’far al-Sadiq. The school emphasizes jurisprudence derived from the Quran, Hadith, and the teachings of the Imams. As a marja’, Khomeini’s rulings bound his followers in matters of daily life, from prayer to finance (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Role as a marja’

By the 1960s, Khomeini was recognized as one of the most senior Shia clerics, a marja’. This status gave him not just religious authority but also political influence. He called on believers to reject secular regimes and work for an Islamic government — a call that found its moment in 1979 (BBC News).

The catch: that fusion made dissent against his rule equivalent to heresy.

How many people died at Ayatollah Khomeini’s funeral?

• Estimated 10 million mourners attended (Imam Khomeini official site)
• A stampede killed dozens (Wikipedia)
• Recognized as the largest funeral in history (Imam Khomeini official site)

Funeral attendance

When Khomeini died on 3 June 1989, millions poured into Tehran. The official Iranian website of the Imam Khomeini Institute reports “over 10 million” people took part — a crowd that, proportionally, represented about one-fifth of Iran’s population at the time. That figure has been cited by Guinness World Records as the largest funeral procession in history (Imam Khomeini official site).

Stampede and casualties

The sheer size of the crowd led to tragedy. A stampede broke out as mourners surged toward the coffin, toppling barricades. Reports place the death toll at “dozens” but the exact number remains disputed. Wikipedia cites Iranian officials saying at least 40 died, while other sources suggest numbers could be higher. The official site does not give a specific casualty count (Wikipedia).

Largest funeral in history

No other funeral in recorded history drew a crowd of this size relative to the nation’s population. For context, the second-largest — the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi — attracted an estimated 2 million in an India that was then many times larger than Iran. Khomeini’s funeral remains a benchmark for mass mourning (Imam Khomeini official site).

What this means: the funeral became a political statement of the regime’s enduring grip, not just a farewell.

Why did Saddam fight Khomeini?

• Saddam invaded Iran in September 1980 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• War lasted eight years, ending in 1988 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Khomeini called for export of the Islamic Revolution (BBC News)

Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)

Saddam Hussein launched a full-scale invasion of Iran on 22 September 1980, claiming territorial disputes over the Shatt al-Arab waterway and seeking to topple the new Islamic Republic before it consolidated power. What followed was one of the longest conventional wars of the 20th century, costing an estimated 500,000 lives on both sides (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Territorial and ideological disputes

Beyond territory, the war was ideological. Khomeini openly called for the overthrow of secular Arab regimes, including Saddam’s Ba’ath party, and encouraged Iraq’s Shia majority to rise up. Saddam, a Sunni Arab and secular nationalist, saw Khomeini as an existential threat. Iran’s new leadership refused to negotiate a ceasefire unless Saddam was removed from power — a condition that prolonged the war (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Saddam’s fear of revolutionary export

Khomeini’s doctrine of “exporting the revolution” — actively supporting Shia movements in Iraq, Lebanon, and beyond — deeply concerned Arab governments. For Saddam, the war was a preemptive strike. The conflict burned out in 1988 with a UN-brokered ceasefire, which Khomeini reportedly described as “drinking poison” (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The consequence: the war cemented Iran’s image as a revolutionary state willing to sacrifice everything for ideology.

Timeline

• 1900: Born in Khomeyn, Iran (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• 1964: Exiled after criticizing the Shah (BBC News)
• 1979: Returned to Iran; Islamic Revolution succeeded (RFE/RL)
• 1980–1988: Iran–Iraq War with Saddam Hussein (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• 1989: Died; funeral attended by 10 million (Imam Khomeini official site)

Clarity section

Confirmed facts

• Khomeini was the first Supreme Leader of Iran (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• He was exiled in 1964 and returned in 1979 (BBC News)
• His funeral was the largest in history with ~10 million attendees (Imam Khomeini official site)
• He died of a heart attack on 3 June 1989 (Wikipedia)

What’s unclear

• Exact number of deaths at his funeral (estimates vary from dozens to hundreds)
• Whether Khomeini directly ordered the Iran–Iraq War continuation after 1982
• Exact crowd size at his return (5 million vs over 1 million)
• Whether exile lasted 14 or 15 years

Quotes

“The Shah must go.”— Ayatollah Khomeini, 1978 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

“Khomeini was the architect of the Iranian Revolution.”— BBC News (BBC News)

Ayatollah Khomeini turned 14 years of exile into a revolution that remade Iran and reshaped the Middle East. His death triggered a funeral of unprecedented scale, but his political project — Velayat-e Faqih — survives in Tehran today. For anyone trying to understand modern Iran, the pattern is clear: Khomeini’s legacy is not a historical footnote; it’s the operating system still running the country. For policymakers and analysts, the question is whether that system can survive a future without its architect’s unifying myth.

För den som vill fördjupa sig i hans resa från exil till makten rekommenderas Khomeinis biografi och revolution som tecknar ett mer detaljerat porträtt.

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