The revolution that swallowed up Khomeini’s followers

The iconic photograph of Khomeini upon his arrival in Tehran shows him surrounded by close allies, who at that moment were considered the winners of the revolution, but most of these figures were sidelined, politically or physically eliminated, and disappeared from the public scene.

A BBC report sheds light on the tragic fate of a small group of individuals who accompanied Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on his historic return to Iran on February 1, 1979, after 15 years in exile. According to the BBC, seven close Shiite aides and companions who traveled on the same plane from France to Tehran were killed, executed, disappeared or died in unclear circumstances in the years following the Iranian Revolution. Two of them were killed, one was executed, another died under mysterious circumstances, and one lived for years in exile. The iconic photograph of Khomeini upon his arrival in Tehran shows him surrounded by close allies who were at the time considered the victors of the revolution, but most of these figures were sidelined, politically or physically eliminated and disappeared from the public scene.

1. MORTEZA MOTAHHARI. Motahhari had a significant influence on the ideology of the Islamic Republic as one of the theorists of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Revolutionary Council before the fall of the Shah’s regime. However, he was assassinated on May 1, 1979 in Tehran. An Islamist group called Al-Furkan claimed responsibility for his assassination. This group opposes the Islamic Republic, adhering to a different interpretation of Islam, which some describe as more radical.
2. HASSAN LAHOUTI ASHKOURI. Ashkouri was a close ally of Ayatollah Khomeini, but soon after the revolution, he became closer to Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr and disagreed with Khomeini (who had become the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic). Two years after the revolution, Ashkouri was imprisoned and died there a few days later. His family says he was poisoned.
3. AHMAD KHOMEINI. Son of Ayatollah Khomeini, described as his right-hand man. He died in March 1995 of a heart attack. The Khomeini family is believed to be politically closer to the reformist wing in Iran.
4. SADEGH GHOTBZADEH. Iran’s foreign minister after the revolution until August 1980. He was executed in September 1982 after being accused of plotting to assassinate Ayatollah Khomeini and overthrow the Islamic Republic.
5. ABUL HASSAN BANI SADR. The first president of Iran after the Islamic Revolution. He fled Iran and currently lives in exile in Paris. The Iranian parliament (Majlis) dismissed Bani Sadr in absentia on June 21, 1981, dismissing him from office on charges of having links to a group against the Islamic Republic.
6. SADEGH TABATABAI. Son-in-law of Ahmad Khomeini. He held several government positions after the revolution, including deputy prime minister in Mehdi Bazargan’s government, but later retired from politics. He died of lung cancer in Germany, where he had lived in his later years, in February 2015.
7. DARIUSH FORHER. He may also be present in the photo, as he is believed to be the person whose head is partially visible in the background. He opposed the formation of a clerical government and was assassinated along with his wife by what were described as “rogue elements” within the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in 1998.
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