Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah definition of Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah (khōmā`nē), 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite Shiites (shē`ītz) [Arab.
..... Click the link for more information. religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme religious leader, in the Iranian Shiite community. Khomeini's criticisms of Reza Shah Pahlevi Reza Shah Pahlevi (rē`zä shä pä`ləvē), 1877–1944, shah of Iran (1925–41).
..... Click the link for more information. led to his exile in 1964. Settling in Iraq, Khomeini continued his outspoken denunciations, developing a strong religious and political following abroad, until forced to leave (1978) by Saddam Hussein Hussein, Saddam (sädäm` h
..... Click the link for more information. ; he then moved to France. Following the revolution that deposed Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi (m
..... Click the link for more information. , Khomeini returned triumphantly to Iran in 1979, declared an Islamic republic, and began to exercise ultimate authority in the nation. His conservative ideology opposed pro-Western tendencies. Khomeini's rule was marked by the Iran hostage crisis Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government earlier in the year had led to a
..... Click the link for more information. and the Iran-Iraq War Iran-Iraq War, 1980–88, protracted military conflict between Iran and Iraq. It officially began on Sept. 22, 1980, with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran, although Iraqi spokespersons maintained that Iran had been engaging in artillery attacks on
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See biography by B. Moin (2000).