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Khomeini
(kō mān′ē, kə-)
Khomeini,
Ayatollah Ruholla (Mussaui) 1900-89; fundamentalist religious leader of Iran (1979-89)
See Khomeini in American Heritage Dictionary 4
Iranian Shiite leader and head of state (1979-1989). Arrested (1963) and exiled (1964) for his opposition to Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi's regime, he returned to Iran on the shah's downfall (1979) and established a new constitution giving himself supreme powers. His reign was marked by a return to strict observance of the Islamic code.
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