Hussein Khomeini

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Hojatoleslam Hussein Khomeini (in Persian: حسین خمینی) is the grandson of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He has been a controversial figure in Iran for calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic government and encouraging a US invasion.

1 Views
2 Trips outside Iran
3 Call for overthrowing the Mullahs
4 See also
5 References & notes
6 External links

[edit] Views

Hussein Khomeini has denounced the Iranian government as the "dictatorship of clerics"^[1]. He has also advocated for a more moderate interpretation of Islamic law applied in the country.

His mentor is thought to be Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri.[1] However, Montazeri is against invasion of Iran and has called for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. In strong contrast to his grandfather's politics, Hossein Khomeini is a moderate cleric who has spoken out against the Islamic Republic system. He is sympathetic to American neoconservative, and has lectured at the American Enterprise Institute.

[edit] Trips outside Iran

After the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, Hossein relocated to the holy city of Karbala.

During the same year he visited United States and in a historic meeting, he was received by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi II, son of the last Shah of Iran. In that meeting they both favored a secular and democratic Iran.

After his quick visit to America, he returned back to Iraq for several months, but suddenly he returned to his native Iran after receiving an urgent message from his grandmother, asking him to come back. According to Michael Ledeen, who has quoted "family sources," he was blackmailed into returning. [2]

He is currently under a house arrest in the holy city of Qom.

[edit] Call for overthrowing the Mullahs

In the year 2006, he called for an American destruction of the Islamic Republic by invasion on the Al-Arabiya television station. [3]

In 2003 he sought refuge in Iraq after trouble from Tehran. Since returning he has been closely monitored by the Iranian government and has been restricted in granting interviews to the Western media.