Overview
Ruhollah Khomeini
Known For
Russia, China, Iran: The Axis of Revenge
Russia, China and Iran: three former empires are determined to...
1979: Big Bang of the Present
Deng Xiaoping's economic and political opening in China. Margaret Thatcher's...
Der Schah und der Ayatollah
In 1979, under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, revolution broke...
Biography
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini (17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the end of the Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's first supreme leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.